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Saturday, May 6 • 2:00pm - 3:00pm
It’s Not About You—Writing the Persona Poem Workshop FULL

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Sometimes a poem calls for a different voice—one that’s not your own. Writing using a persona frees you to write about difficult subjects or experiences, helps a poet avoid sentimentality or self-indulgence. Persona releases you from the constraints of time and space—you can speak as a Civil War nurse, a Neanderthal, or Queen Nefertiti. You can be a space alien or your goldfish. A persona can give you an immediate authority with being preachy. Or it can just be fun. How does a poet create an authentic voice, true in tone, diction, knowledge? In this workshop we will examine personae and how poets successfully create them. We will look at the work of a small, diverse group of poets. Then we will put on the mask, write a persona poem of our own. For whom will you speak? How will you answer the call of your poem?

Moderators
avatar for Dawn Paul

Dawn Paul

Writing/Interdisciplinary Faculty, Montserrat College of Art
Dawn Paul teaches writing and literature at Montserrat College of Art. She has two novels, The Country of Loneliness, and Still River. Her newest book, What We Still Don’t Know, is a collection of poems about scientist Carl Linnaeus. She is a frequent performer on the Improbable... Read More →
avatar for Cindy Veach

Cindy Veach

Cindy Veach is the author of Her Kind (CavanKerry Press, forthcoming 2021); Gloved Against Blood (CavanKerry Press; named a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and a ‘Must Read’ by The Massachusetts Center for the Book; and the chapbook, Innocents (Nixes Mate). Her poems... Read More →

Saturday May 6, 2017 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
New Liberty Charter School Room 3 Museum Place Mall, 2nd Fl, Salem, MA 01970