They’re all part of the class I’m teaching on Saturday: The Long Way Home: Writing Long Poems.

(Maybe I need a picture of a moose.)

Or I could ask, “How do you write that 10-page poem to submit to The Seattle Review?” Currently, that’s their minimum.

And yes, I’ve been posting about this class all over the place, but I thought I’d make one last pitch.

(Maybe I need a baseball photo.)

We’ll look at examples from Bishop, Wright, Hull, Nicole Cooley, Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, and more.

And we’ll write–a lot!

If you’ve wanted to explore that sweet spot between compression and drawing an idea out, come join us.

In the meantime, I’ll be seeing my daughter off to Thailand. Yikes!

Every year as we approach the solstice I want to spend as much time as possible outside–in the light, light, light!

And then I don’t. Part of that is because the cat and the husband are generally inside, and I want to be with them. But part of it is the weather, as in cold or rain or both.

But how about translating the long light into long poems? Plenty of time to unravel an idea (plenty of time rework it, to tighten or expand).

How do you write one of those 10-pagers you can submit to The Seattle Review?

The long way home: Writing long poems

One short month after the solstice, on July 21 we’ll be writing long poems in this class at Richard Hugo House. We’ll look at examples of long poems built out of sections or fragments–making a narrative by breaking it. We’ll explore long poems that seem to follow one rabbit down the hole back up or into the next town. And we’ll look at sequences–chewy, dense poems that stack up on themselves.

We’ll look at poems by Kimiko Hahn, Lynda Hull, Charles Wright, Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, and more.

And we’ll write and write and write and write and, if you want, share your new poems.

To sign up or get more information, see the class page at hugohouse.org.

Really, what could be better than writing all day? And with lunch in the middle?

Hugo House is adding a March session of its popular fund-raiser.

When: March 3, 10:00 – … (lunch and an open mike at 1:00, and another open mike at 5:00)

Where: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 206.322.7030

You can register ahead of time or at the door, and you can see the schedule here.

I’m leading sessions at 10:00 and 11:00 on breaking up the narrative. Here’s the description:

Starting with images and seed texts, we’ll fly through rapid-fire prompts–a fast way to get out of our comfort zones and generate fragments and sections. Then we’ll take some time to collage those parts into poems or prose pieces that tell a story in or out of sequence.

And Karen Finneyfrock will lead a session at noon on using broken form.

Should be a smashing good time!

And it’s 9 days until NYC…