The Joyful Partnership of Poetry & Memoir—Workshop!

Explore the partnership of poetry & memoir, in this special writing workshop by Megan Willome.

If you’ve ever tried to write your story as a memoir, even a small part of it, you may have run into barriers, the kind that only disappear by taking a side door. What better way to find those side doors, and tell the truth slant, than through poetry?

Poetry and memoir make great partners. Each can inform the other. Maybe the place where you’re stuck needs to be rendered as a poem instead. Or maybe memoir is the right vehicle, but is best navigated with the narrow focus poetry provides.

Because the theme of this workshop is “partners, ” we’ll be partnering in a big way. Participants will be paired to partner, reading and discussing selections from Every Day Poems posted while the class is in session.

As a group, we’ll partner and read Rita Dove’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas and Beulah, a collection of poems about her grandparents, complete with a chronology, so you can keep track of important events, such as, “1964: Beulah’s daughters invite her to a Fourth of July picnic.”

In addition, we’ll read selected chapters from The Joy of Poetry, the tagline of which is “how to keep, save, & make your life with poems.” In short, we will Keep, Save, & Make in this class, using poetry and memoir pieces, to write about our lives.

8-week course includes

• Poetry partnering

• Group poetry partnering for the first 32 poems in Thomas and Beulah, which includes all of Thomas’ section and nine poems from Beulah’s

• Eight chapters from The Joy of Poetry, focusing on the “keep” and “save” aspects of poems and memoir such as voice, grief, tribute, writing life, and more

• Extra optional course material each week

• Six asynchronous discussions and two Zoom (video) chats

• Writing prompts. Some of these will be about your story and some will be about the stories or poems we’re reading. Sometimes the best way to be comfortable in your own skin is to jump into someone else’s for a while

12-week course includes

• Four additional weeks of poetry partnering

• Four additional weeks to partner as a group and revel in the final 12 poems from Beulah’s section in Thomas and Beulah

• Four additional chapters from The Joy of Poetry, focusing on the “make” aspect of memoir and poems such as love and solace—also includes a discussion about making your life with tea

• Three more asynchronous discussions and one more Zoom (video) chat

• Additional writing prompts

For You

• Private online group setting that includes a free digital copy of The Joy of Poetry

• Selected poems from Every Day Poems

• Please buy or borrow a copy of Thomas and Beulah, by Rita Dove, to use in our weekly discussions

• Each week will include an additional optional link to something that tells a great story — an article, a podcast, a YouTube video, and so on

• Fun Bonus: A free 1 oz. gift of Plum Deluxe organic, fair trade Reading Nook tea!

You will need

A computer or mobile device with an Internet connection capable of accessing our interactive online space, clicking on documents, and participating in Zoom chats. And you’ll need your favorite writing devices: computer, pencil, pen, crayon, notebook paper, Moleskine, spiral, or other creative tool.

Your workshop leader

Megan Willome serves as managing editor and a contributing writer to the Wacoan, a city magazine in Texas. She also occasionally writes for Rock & Vine, a publication of the Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post, and for Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared in Every Day Poems and Windhover. She is the author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life with Poems, published by T.S. Poetry Press in 2016.

From Past Tweetspeak Workshop Participants

Darrelyn Saloom: I signed up for the fiction class at a crazy/busy time. What was I thinking? With all the chaos in my life, I am so happy I did. I would NEVER have completed a 3-thousand word short story without Anthony. It was wonderful to have his guidance and feedback. And I am so pleased with the result.

Brad Grout: I am personally getting so much out of this memoir workshop…you people are AMAZING!

Lane Arnold: I struck gold. An afternoon session of writing poetry is good for the soul. The poetry workshop is a catalyst for creativity.

Lexanne Leonard: The most important step I’ve taken is to join Tweetspeak’s Poetry Workshop with Anne Doe Overstreet. I cannot begin to thank Tweetspeak, Anne, and my fellow students for this journey.

Darlene S.: I don’t think I can put into words both the overall value of the lessons learned and the encouragement I got.

Sandra Heska King: This was absolutely the single best whim I’ve followed.

8-Week Course • BUY NOW • $350 + $10 late fee = $360

12-Week Course • BUY NOW • $420 + $10 = $430

Photo by Sergio Delgado, Creative Commons, via Flickr.