Tom Montag Celebrity Saturday

WRITING BEYOND YOURSELF: PRAYER, SPELL, CHANT, AND MASK

JULY 7th, 2018, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

If words have power, how do they move the world? What kinds of poems might do that? While we can’t pretend to be wizards or witches or shamans, this class will examine and foster poetry which takes the form of prayer, spell, chant, and mask in order to work its magic. Students will read and discuss a selection of these various kinds of poems, and will write their own in their own voices, from the position of their own powers. Oftentimes we think the poem is about that which is within us; this workshop is meant to take the poet beyond himself or herself to where the word encounters the world. You might already be familiar with the power of prayer to move mountains, but we will add spell and chant and mask to the methods available. Students should bring a notebook and favorite pen and should expect to draft at least four new poems and to share this work in a supportive environment.

TOM MONTAG most recent collections of poetry are: In This Place: Selected Poems 1982-2013 (2014); This Wrecked World (2015); The Miles No One Wants (2016); and Imagination’s Place: The Old Poet Poems (2017). Over the past few years, Montag has been the featured poet at Atticus Review, Contemporary American Voices, Houseboat, Basil O’Flaherty Review, and Blue Heron Review. He regularly teaches poetry and creative nonfiction for The Mill: A Place for Writers (Appleton, WI). He blogs as The Middlewesterner. With David Graham he is currently co-editing an anthology of poetry about small town America, which is expected to be published in late 2018.

At AllWriters’, we strive to bring you the best! Several times a year, we offer a Celebrity Saturday, which brings in a better-known, better-published author to work with you for one intensive day. Celebrity Saturday authors have included Jane Hamilton, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Michael Perry, A. Manette Ansay, Marilyn Taylor, Ellen Kort, and many, many more! Celebrity Saturdays run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and cost $95, which includes a lunch catered by Cafe De Art in Waukesha!