Poetry Today Updates

+ an index of past Poetry Today courses & Poems for Your Midweek

Dear Friends,

After much reflection, and after reading my friend

Joy Sullivan

’s fantastic piece on her own decision to paywall her newsletter, Poetry Today will be moving to a paywall structure. To quote Joy: “I want to keep writing my best. I want to take risks without worrying so much about trolls, misogynists, and sanctimoniousness. I want words with teeth and a pulse. I want to make slow, chewy art.”

Sincerest thanks to the hundreds of readers who responded so thoughtfully to my piece on Anne Carson’s essay “The Gender of Sound.” The experience solidified how much I want to be a reader that expresses appreciation for others. I want to encourage writers to experiment and explore their thoughts on the page, and I want to feel the same freedom to do so. I plan to deliver this newsletter to those who lead with that same sense of pleasure in literature and spirited support of each other and me. 

I can’t wait to work with you more closely going forward. I’ve started putting together seasonal poetry reading lists, more frequent essays on wonder, and more materials designed to help you explore your writing practice. (And, of course, if you’re ready to join a yearlong writing program, I hope you will consider joining CWC).

As a reminder, here are the 2-hour generative craft classes that paid subscribers have access to (stay tuned for our next class in late September!):

• Dissolving Our Writing Blocks: A Guided Breakthrough Exercise

• Shopping for Images: Writing Vivid Imagery (via Poems about Supermarkets!)

• Emily Dickinson: On Riddles and Definitions in Poetry

• On the “Nothing”: Absence in John Burnside’s Poetry

These classes are interactive and feature generative craft exercises designed to help you practice the techniques we study in the first hour.

I look forward to making Poetry Today an even more vital and inspiring place and to connecting more deeply with all of you. Let me know if there’s anything else you would love to see and I will work to make it happen.

And, of course, Poems for Your Weekend is here to stay. A bonus Poems for Your Midweek is included below.

xM 

P.S.

If you are a longtime subscriber who cannot afford a subscription, please be in touch. If you’ve supported me, I want to support you.