Workshop

I told my partner that I missed posting on the 25th because we were on vacation. He suggested that I try posting twice in one month to remedy the guilt I felt so here we are. I’m also attempting to map this out based on notes I had for the mentioned “missed” post.

I’ve written before about writing groups and how the virtual format has been beneficial in my creative practice. Since then, our group has become a duo that always seems to welcome poetry back into our orbit. We decided to have an introduction to workshop if you will and it was an interesting experience.

As someone who has had varied experiences with workshops in undergrad then an MFA program, it was fun to approach workshop in a different sense. My workshop partner has a PhD so her academic experiences differ from mine. We both have a fondness for poetry so we wanted to set expectations for ourselves and our work.

We sent work to each other weeks ahead of time, having to reschedule once because life happens, and I thought back on the workshops I’ve been a part of. I thought about the workshops where I poured myself over written comments only to be told I was receiving less credit because I wasn’t speaking up in class. I thought about the workshops where I shared work and the room remained silent after. I thought about the workshops where I was spotlighted to lead discussion as if I wasn’t prepared with packets of work we were assigned. I didn’t want our exchange to mirror these instances.

It was most useful to cascade between our poems. Instead of going one person at a time and bringing out the magnifying glass, we were able to create a free-flowing conversation on similarities we found in our work and our different approaches as well. She read her poems aloud to see if it added another layer and I asked for context when I deciphered one meaning from a line to see if that was the intention.

For once it felt like I had experience in a literary area because sometimes I conveniently forget that I do. Workshop is complicated and maybe this more intimate format will allow some unexpected work to emerge for both of us. We’re going to try revising and bringing new work to the table next time and I can’t wait.