What ignites and sustains a practice of poetry? How can emerging poets join the urgent conversations of our time? From the metaphysical to the mundane, we experiment together with a range of writing habits to anchor our current and future work. We look to great practitioners to learn how they built their unique writing lives. For example, how did Lucille Clifton’s practice of spirit writing converge with her poetry? How did Bernadette Mayer develop the endurance needed to write her book Midwinter’s Day in twenty-four hours? What examples can we find of poets who bring experience as activists, musicians, visual artists, caregivers and more into their poetry? This class supports you in not only deepening an individualized and sustainable writing practice but also in cultivating a body of work that is in conversation with other contemporary poets, representing your most vital aims. We also make time for a communal practice, writing together in class. During feedback sessions focused on your poems, we prioritize the writers’ goals and questions. When our time together ends, expect to leave with a chapbook-length compilation of new poems. You can also expect to move into the next phase of your development as a poet with refined writing habits, the experience of giving and receiving tailored feedback, and a sense of momentum and purpose.

The New School Writing Program follows the workshop method of teaching: An experienced writer-teacher gives students guidance by focusing on their manuscripts and on the creative acts of revision and self-editing, both in the workshop and during individual conferences. The program provides students with a framework and sustained blocks of time to focus extensively on their own writing. Graduate writing workshops meet once a week in a two-hour session. Workshops are all conveniently scheduled in the early evenings, Tuesday through Thursday. Graduate writing workshops may include a short assigned reading list and occasional visits by guest writers who read and discuss their work. Structure and content of writing workshops are adapted to the individual area of concentration. Class sessions are principally devoted to reading and discussing students' fiction, usually short stories or excerpts from novels-in-progress. Students learn how to balance inspiration with revision; explore methods for strengthening characterization, storytelling, and style while developing their voices to the utmost; and explore those narrative forms and techniques best suited to their individual styles.Class sessions are principally devoted to reading and discussing students' poems. There is constant attention to the craft of poetry, the skills and strategies involved in making the modern poem, aspects of prosody and new directions in writing, and, particularly, the discovery (and invention) of techniques most appropriate for the poet's subjects, issues, and materials. There is special emphasis on possibilities for revision.

The New School Writing Program follows the workshop method of teaching: An experienced writer-teacher gives students guidance by focusing on their manuscripts and on the creative acts of revision and self-editing, both in the workshop and during individual conferences. The program provides students with a framework and sustained blocks of time to focus extensively on their own writing. Graduate writing workshops meet once a week in a two-hour session. Workshops are all conveniently scheduled in the early evenings, Tuesday through Thursday. Graduate writing workshops may include a short assigned reading list and occasional visits by guest writers who read and discuss their work. Structure and content of writing workshops are adapted to the individual area of concentration. Class sessions are principally devoted to reading and discussing students' fiction, usually short stories or excerpts from novels-in-progress. Students learn how to balance inspiration with revision; explore methods for strengthening characterization, storytelling, and style while developing their voices to the utmost; and explore those narrative forms and techniques best suited to their individual styles.Class sessions are principally devoted to reading and discussing students' poems. There is constant attention to the craft of poetry, the skills and strategies involved in making the modern poem, aspects of prosody and new directions in writing, and, particularly, the discovery (and invention) of techniques most appropriate for the poet's subjects, issues, and materials. There is special emphasis on possibilities for revision.