Classes and Workshops
For 35 years, I've taught a wide variety of creative writing, composition, and literature classes to adults, children, college students, and incarcerated adults and teens.
I am an encouraging, practical, and inspiring teacher. I love watching students get that "aha moment" as they discover something gorgeous in a poem we are studying, or as they see a way to revise their work and more fully realize their vision for the reader. I have received awards for Excellence in Teaching from The Loft Literary Center, the University of Utah, and the Jerome Foundation. I currently teach at a variety of literary arts centers across the country - as well as at regional book festivals and conferences and in private homes in the Washington, DC area. |
Upcoming Online Classes
Ekphrastic Poetry Workshop
Sponsored by The Writer's Center
4 Thursdays, Aug. 8-29, 2024
7 - 9pm ET on ZOOM
Register now!
Expand your poems and have fun by writing about the visual arts. Find new ways to enter your drafts and deepen your revisions by writing poems about the visual arts (ekphrastic poems). We'll read and discuss a variety of ekphrastic poems to inspire your own writing, enhance your craft skills (line, image, repetition, point of view, etc.), and explore new terrain. This class is perfect for poets looking to deepen their own creative process, write about art, and enhance their skills with feedback and revision.
Sestinas
Sponsored by The Loft Literary Center
Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024
9am - noon CT / 10am-1pm ET
Register now!
Take a crack at a sestina or learn how to write a better one. This poetic form can build your literary muscles with repetition, diction, description, and more. Sestinas often fail because writers don’t pair the form with the right-sized story/idea, so we’ll brainstorm ideas, go over the "rules" and study how a few good sestinas work. The instructor will offer helpful insights and discuss revision. You’ll leave with a solid start on your own sestina.
Poetry Chapbook Workshop Intensive
COHORT 1: Sept. 12 - Nov. 21, 2024
COHORT 2: Dec. 5 - Feb. 13, 2025
Every other Thursday; 7-9:30pm ET on Zoom
$425/cohort or $800 for both (payment plan available)
LIMIT 6 poets/cohort
Interested poets will submit a small sample of poetry to insure a good fit
Contact me to learn more!
By the end of this intensive workshop and discussion class, you'll have a poetry chapbook ready for publication. A small group of peer poets will know your work intimately and provide invaluable support and feedback. You'll have accountability--since every other week you'll be presenting new poems to the group, so over time, they will have spent time on all the poems in the chapbook. By the end of this class, you'll know your work in a profound way you never thought possible. Isn't it time you took your poems seriously and challenge yourself to see what's possible? You can do this. We've got your back.
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS: serious poets who want to work with me long-term, and build community with 5 other poets; poets who have a collection of 15-25 poems (finished or solid drafts) and want to learn how to organize them into a collection; poets who want the accountability to polish (or write new) and share 3 poems every two weeks and commit to read and offer helpful feedback to others.
ABOUT THE COHORT STRUCTURE: Cohorts are intended to be consecutive, meaning you will make the most progress if you take both cohorts. Sessions build on each, and are not repeated, over of the course of the 6-month time frame. You're absolutely welcome to attend just one cohort, but priority will be given for those signing up for both - to insure I reach my goal to create consistency and better serve the participating poets. In the previous class, 5 of 6 poets continued with the 2nd cohort and found it very valuable. One poet jumped in at the start of cohort 1 and acclimated quickly (but she had worked with me previously on her chapbook).
COHORT 1:
COHORT 2:
POETS FROM THE PREVIOUS CLASS:
Sponsored by The Writer's Center
4 Thursdays, Aug. 8-29, 2024
7 - 9pm ET on ZOOM
Register now!
Expand your poems and have fun by writing about the visual arts. Find new ways to enter your drafts and deepen your revisions by writing poems about the visual arts (ekphrastic poems). We'll read and discuss a variety of ekphrastic poems to inspire your own writing, enhance your craft skills (line, image, repetition, point of view, etc.), and explore new terrain. This class is perfect for poets looking to deepen their own creative process, write about art, and enhance their skills with feedback and revision.
Sestinas
Sponsored by The Loft Literary Center
Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024
9am - noon CT / 10am-1pm ET
Register now!
Take a crack at a sestina or learn how to write a better one. This poetic form can build your literary muscles with repetition, diction, description, and more. Sestinas often fail because writers don’t pair the form with the right-sized story/idea, so we’ll brainstorm ideas, go over the "rules" and study how a few good sestinas work. The instructor will offer helpful insights and discuss revision. You’ll leave with a solid start on your own sestina.
Poetry Chapbook Workshop Intensive
COHORT 1: Sept. 12 - Nov. 21, 2024
COHORT 2: Dec. 5 - Feb. 13, 2025
Every other Thursday; 7-9:30pm ET on Zoom
$425/cohort or $800 for both (payment plan available)
LIMIT 6 poets/cohort
Interested poets will submit a small sample of poetry to insure a good fit
Contact me to learn more!
By the end of this intensive workshop and discussion class, you'll have a poetry chapbook ready for publication. A small group of peer poets will know your work intimately and provide invaluable support and feedback. You'll have accountability--since every other week you'll be presenting new poems to the group, so over time, they will have spent time on all the poems in the chapbook. By the end of this class, you'll know your work in a profound way you never thought possible. Isn't it time you took your poems seriously and challenge yourself to see what's possible? You can do this. We've got your back.
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS: serious poets who want to work with me long-term, and build community with 5 other poets; poets who have a collection of 15-25 poems (finished or solid drafts) and want to learn how to organize them into a collection; poets who want the accountability to polish (or write new) and share 3 poems every two weeks and commit to read and offer helpful feedback to others.
ABOUT THE COHORT STRUCTURE: Cohorts are intended to be consecutive, meaning you will make the most progress if you take both cohorts. Sessions build on each, and are not repeated, over of the course of the 6-month time frame. You're absolutely welcome to attend just one cohort, but priority will be given for those signing up for both - to insure I reach my goal to create consistency and better serve the participating poets. In the previous class, 5 of 6 poets continued with the 2nd cohort and found it very valuable. One poet jumped in at the start of cohort 1 and acclimated quickly (but she had worked with me previously on her chapbook).
COHORT 1:
- We'll read one free, digital chapbook and discuss order, subject, themes, titles, voice, and poem variety
- Each session, you'll share 3 poems with the group and get valuable feedback on the poems and how they fit into chapbook
- Discussion topics/Exercises: Feedback (how to ask for and provide helpful feedback), Subjects (focus your poems for cohesion) and Themes (how you approach your topic for consistency and deeper impact), and Titles (write better ones!)
COHORT 2:
- We'll read and discuss one free, digital chapbook (different from Cohort 1)
- Sessions 1-4: each poet shares 3 poems and gets valuable feedback on the poems and how they fit into chapbook
- Sessions 5-6: each poet has 45 minutes to have their manuscript (up to 25 poems) workshopped by the group with attention to the order and drafted Back Copy
- Discussion topics/Exercises: Ordering (basic principles, keystone poems, filling in the gaps), Back Copy (drafting that paragraph will really teach you about what you're trying to say!) and Publishing (options about where and how)
POETS FROM THE PREVIOUS CLASS:
- "This class helped hold me accountable and gave me opportunity to gain invaluable feedback from poetry peers. I highly recommend it if you are ready to start building a manuscript. Melanie is a wise guide in this process. This class is more than worth your time and money."
- "Thank you so much for this class. You helped me do something I didn’t think I could do."
- "This was my first time to focus on the learning process of organizing poems that went into a chapbook. In addition, being held accountable for submitting 20 poems enabled me to appreciate the need for a schedule for daily writing."
- "Having an organized collection of poems in hand has given me the confidence to pursue this process further of producing a chapbook."
- "I finally have a draft of poems for a chapbook that I can continue to work on in a more focused and organized manner. Plus working with the class and with you was an inspiration, an energy booster, encouraging me to keep writing."
- "It helped me see that I already had a bunch of poems, that were thematically connected, gave great guidance and support in learning how to put a collection together."
Feedback from Recent Participants
Voice & Tone in Persona Poems
"I am loving your class so much. Just soaking up as much as I can. Your teaching style is a really good fit for me and the selection of poems you chose for this class - i want to eat them!! Building a Poetry Chapbook
"Your class has been tremendously insightful to me and helped me think of my work differently already." "Thank you for the well structured and insightful course." Traditional & Contemporary
Poetic Forms "Thank you for the reminder to be OK with being messy and imperfect. What kind and generous words you gave us this morning. I'll take them to heart." Create a Writing Routine That Works
"The handouts were very helpful as takeaways from the class, and Melanie was super awesome." "Practical information that I can implement." "The pacing of class was perfect." |
Line Breaks: Tools of Musical Notation
"This class is fabulous! You are blowing my mind. I should have taken it long ago." Starting a Memoir
"Thank you so much-yesterday was invaluable and far exceeded already high expectations." Revision as Discovery
"I'm looking at revision in a whole new way. The exercises you shared are a game-changer for me!" Writing for Procrastinators
"You are a fantastic instructor! You are very creative in pulling the class together with small discussions and what not. And, I love the reading assignments." "I appreciate your judgment-free class." "Your course has helped me to get started with my writing again, every day, and revitalized my passion for my book. I'm very grateful for what you've given us." Exploring Memoir
"Thank you for this class! Very motivating!" "Many thanks -- very helpful!" " Great class!" Submit Your Stuff to Literary Magazines
"Your class on submitting work was really, really great. I've taken a class in submitting work a few years ago and I have to say, yours was much more thorough." |
Reviving Stuck Poems
"Your workshop yesterday was fantastic. It has really opened up my thinking about the poems I revised during the session. A new direction in one and a connection I hadn't totally grasped in the other. I plan to use the activities in the future. Thank you for giving me these most helpful tools. I feel liberated." Write Stronger Poetry Titles
"Thank you for this workshop. You’ve given me great ideas for revision and I appreciate your worksheets; very useful and helpful!" "I really enjoyed your class this morning. I appreciate your organization and excellent teaching style. I learned so much and feel like I have new tools at my disposal to not only create better titles but to improve my poems! Thank you so much." Poetry II: Re-imagining Critique
"Thank you for leading a great workshop. It has helped me be a better reader for others and a better judge of what feedback I would like for my work." Starting a Large Writing Project
"So useful and encouraging! The principles you covered are going to stay with me!" |
Praise
- "Thank you for your class on Submitting Your Poems. I followed your excellent advice and voila! I had 3 poems accepted. This is my first publication in over 10 years. Now I'm ready to keep trying to get my work out into the world - all thanks to you."
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- "Melanie is a treasure—a quirky, committed, talented treasure. She was/is as good or better than anyone I had at my Ivy League university. Most notable, she cares.”
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