Andrea Hollander Budy: Poetry Reading and Discussion
Friday, September 5, 1:00 - 1:50 pm
Byrd Center for Legislative Studies Auditorium
Sponsored by Shepherd University
Free and open to the public

Sarah Maclay: En-Chant-Ment
Incantation allows us to leave the world of the unobstructed linear, the world of the simply narrative-the unimpeded and then and then and then, the world of everyday-and to enter the world of music, of spell, of enchantment-of a kind of swirl, or swoon. You can feel it in your body. This is one of the reasons we listen to music (which "tames the foul beast" and all of that)-because it allows us to enter a state that seems to transport us from our own uninterrupted mental discourse, our own repeating litanies of concern. It allows us a kind of space, or gap-a break, a breath, from what seemed so consuming in the way it concerned us only moments before-like a circuit breaker. It allows us to be present to something unexpected-a rest, and yet a kind of coming awake. It allows us to breathe. How do we do this? This workshop will provide examples of poems that pull us in by casting a spell. Then we'll try our hands at it through a generative exercise and share the results. Finally, we'll hear how some of the same techniques that produce entrancement can be used for very different tonal effects.
Friday, September 5, 2:30 - 4:30 pm (Workshop Full)
Historic Entler Hotel, corner of German and Princess Streets
$25 fee

Ethan Fischer: Young Poetry: Word Diamonds and Balloons
Writing Class for Ages 8 to 12 - Leaping Poems!
New poets will have fun discovering what playful words can mean when arranged or juggled to form puzzles of song. We’ll take sentences apart and add colors or dreams or wishes. Laughter and surprise are good ingredients that go into poems to eat or just remember. We’ll write some poems about art or music too. Bring colorful pens and your own view of fall. Poetry’s a fun-house mirror with magic for kids who spy true images of friends on the roof or by Town Run. Let’s imagine ourselves free to fly paper airplane poems and more . . .
Saturday, September 6, 10:00 am - 11:30 am (Workshop Full)
Four Seasons Books, 116 W. German Street
Free of charge
Parents are invited to return at 11:00 am for the readings.

Grace Cavalieri: Poetry Workshop for Young Adults (Ages 12-16)
Saturday, September 6, 10:00 am - 11:30 am (Workshop Full)
Four Seasons Books, 116 W. German Street
Free of charge
Parents are invited to return at 11:00 am for the readings.

Shaping the Poem: Managing Lines and Stanzas-with Andrea Hollander Budy
An important and sometimes challenging task involved in creating a poem is deciding how to shape it. Should a particular poem consist of a single stanza? When and why should the poet use quatrains or tercets or couplets - or less consistent or more unusual stanza forms? And how does one choose the appropriate length for each line? In this workshop, we will explore these questions as we examine masterful poems by established poets and, through exercises, begin to hone skills useful to our own work.
Saturday, September 6, 10 am - 12 noon (Workshop Full)
Episcopal Chapel, German Street
$25 fee

Trying to Say: Poetic Language in Poetry and Fiction-with William Heath
During this session poet and novelist William Heath will talk about poetic language in both poetry and fiction, drawing examples from his own work as well as the work of others. A question and answer period will follow. After the talk Dr. Heath will sign copies of his new novel, Blacksnake's Path: The True Adventures of William Wells, which is due out in the fall.
Saturday, September 6, 1:00 - 1:50 pm (Workshop Full)
Four Seasons Books, 116 W. German Street
Free of charge

Sarah Maclay: Informal Conversation about Publishing
Saturday, September 6, 2:00 - 2:50 pm
Stone Soup Bistro, second floor, 112 W. German Street
Donations welcome. (Workshop Full) If you wish to be placed on a waiting list for this session, please make that request in the Comments section.

New Shadows: Moving Poems from Imitation to Innovation-with Terrance Hayes
This workshop is intended to help poets help themselves. It will offer concrete strategies for sustained writing when the only teacher available is a book. We will explore the ways inventive imitation can lead to poetic discovery and innovation. Writing assignments will involve discussing and then "shadowing" published poems from a multitude of styles and traditions. Come prepared to generate and share work written during the workshop. Poems will be discussed not for their merit as imitations, but for their originality and potential.
Saturday, September 6, 3:00 - 5:00 pm (Workshop Full)
Four Seasons Books, 116 W. German Street
$25 fee

Fiction Workshop-with Alan Tinkler
Shepherd University creative writing instructor Alan Tinkler will lead a fiction workshop Saturday afternoon. Participants are asked to bring the first page of a short story or novel they are currently working on. Please bring 12 copies to distribute. The workshop will explore what draws a reader into a piece of fiction.
Saturday, September 6, 3:00 - 5:00 pm (Workshop Full)
Scarborough Library at Shepherd University, 301 N. King Street
$25 fee

The Dramatic Poem-with Grace Cavalieri
Our group will read sample dramatic poems and think through Action, Form, Circumstance, Subject, Character, Conflict, Story, Thought, Dialogue, Poetic Devices, and poem as dramatic monologue. Action, in literature, is psychological, always psychological. This means there is a process going on where one thought spirals to another and in the turning of the energy, the reader cares what happens next. Before writing the dramatic poem we want to know the character speaking. Who are the characters in your life you want to write about? See them in detail. Know where they've been before entering the poem, where they're going, what they want. Your poem will catch them in a tiny moment of this journey.

Form is the way we hold out art. Form identifies the comprehensive organization of the poem. Form responds to certain emotional qualities. Circumstance means your poem will occur in a time and place which we think about before the act of writing. Subject: If we want to write about historical characters research has to be prepared before this session. Characters: The dramatic poem has at its center someone. Character makes the situation and not the other way around. Conflict, for the purposes of a poem, is interior to the mind and heart of the poem's inhabitant. Conflict is the clash between what is expected and what is obtained. Story can be a realization, incident or revelation from the character's point of view. Thought is sinking our minds into our personal drama before we write. Writing is the last of the process, not the first. Dialogue is our way of using words actually said, and is a major way to fasten the reader to the poem."Talk" flavors the poem. We'll look into monologue, soliloquy, and dramatic monologue.

All of the elements mentioned are not necessary for one poem. To make a poem dramatic, perhaps just one element is needed. Together, we'll discover which of these features works for your writing.
Sunday, September 7, 9:30 - 11:30 am (Workshop Full)
Stone Soup Bistro, second floor, 112 W. German Street
$25 fee