Poetic Conversations

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is known to have said, “A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.” Put differently, a reader’s personal response offers an added dimension to a book. In this workshop, participants will select a published poetry collection whose world resonates with them, one that includes poems they would like to “dialogue with” for the remainder of the workshop.* Weekly writing prompts will initiate a “conversation” with a chosen text from their book, an opportunity to engage with the source material on a deeper level. Topics covered will include imagery, line breaks, and poetic language, and we will attempt a variety of poetic forms. Roughly half of each session will be devoted to theoretical concerns and/or writing exercises; the second half to workshopping the pieces produced in class and tweaked at home. Aside from the selected poetry book, no texts are required, but participants are strongly encouraged to read poetry and/or essays on poetics outside class time and share materials/information that might be of interest to the group.

*A list of suggested poets and/or titles will be provided after the first class, upon request.

Author of nine poetry books and an award-winning novel, Carolyn Marie Souaid has performed at literary events in Canada and abroad; her work has been featured on CBC-Radio and in a variety of national and international publications. Her videopoem, Blood is Blood, won a top prize at the 2012 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. Other books have been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Carolyn has been guest faculty at Bishop’s University and has led several previous QWF workshops. Her literary papers are housed at Rare Books and Special Collections of the McLennan Library (McGill University).