Mad Poet-in-Residence 2020
Leonard Gontarek
A Free 4-week Poetry Workshop With Leonard Gontarek Dates: – September 10, 17, 24, October 1 - All Thursdays, 6-7:30 PM Location: 4221 Osage Avenue, West Philadelphia, PA 19104 Contact: gontarek9@earthlink.net
Students will gain a fuller understanding of poetry in our world and improve their poetic skills. Poets of all skill levels are welcome!
The workshop is designed to identify and develop the sense of place in the poet’s work. The aim is to firmly root the poem where it takes place, so the subject matter and concerns of the poem will unfold around it. International and American Poetry will be discussed, with a focus on what makes a poet’s voice original, what makes the voice their own, and the ways in which the poet speaks directly to the reader. Students will learn to identify, and trust, the same qualities in their poems, and establish voice as a working principle in their poetry.
Specific direction and assignments will be given, with attention to the basic elements and forms of poetry. Through invention, students will build more accurate and textured work.
Leonard Gontarek coordinates Peace/Works, Poetry In Common, Philly Poetry Day, hosts The Green Line Reading & Interview Series, is Poetry Consultant for Whitman at 200: Art and Democracy and contributing editor for The American Poetry Review. He is the author of six books of poems, most recently Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva. His poems have appeared in Field, Poet Lore, Verse Daily, Fence, Poetry Northwest, and The Best American Poetry. He has twice received poetry fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on The Arts. He conducts poetry workshops in venues including, The Kelly Writers House, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership, and weekly workshops from his home in West Philadelphia.
It all started when…
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