Place can be a significant source of inspiration for poetry. It can also be, like the human heart, a source of vitality in a poem, bringing the lyric to life. How do we deepen the way we engage with place in poetry? In this five-week workshop, we’ll examine how a sense of place is constructed in a poem and attempt various approaches to creating a deeply felt place in our work, whether it be real or imaginary. We’ll explore poems that evoke physical landscapes and also consider surrealist poems and how a strange sense of place is created from within that tradition. We’ll read a variety of poets who engage with place as an authentic presence in their work, such as Ada Limón, Frank O’Hara, Sarah Kirsch, Yerra Surgarman, Larry Levis, James Wright, Terrance Hayes, Cynthia Cruz, Paul Celan and more.
We strongly encourage all in-person workshop participants to wear masks. Workshop participants may be required to wear masks as an accessibility accommodation for other participants or the instructor.
Workshop Details
Carlie Hoffman is the author of When There Was Light (Four Way Books, 2023) and This Alaska (Four Way Books, 2021), winner of the NCPA Gold Award in poetry and a finalist for the Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award. A poet and translator, her honors include a 92Y Discovery Poetry Prize and a Poets & Writers Amy Award. Carlie earned her MFA in poetry from Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where she was a creative writing teaching fellow and served as graduate director of the Columbia Artist Teachers (CA/T) program. She has previously taught creative writing workshops at Columbia University, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, and the Young Women’s Leadership School. Currently, Carlie is a lecturer of creative writing at Purchase College–SUNY. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Small Orange Journal.