Overview of poetry for beginning writers, including overviews and my experiences as a writer (first of a few writing tutorials)

1. Poetry Overview
Colleen M. Farrelly

2. Meet Your Instructor
• No formal background in writing
• Published 150+ poems in 50+ peer-reviewed journals
– Free verse
– Formal verse
– Prose poetry
• Winner of multiple Best of Journal awards

3. Course Sequence Overview
• Poetry Overview
• Technical Aspects of Writing Poetry I, II, and III
• Formal Verse
• Free Verse
• Feel free to skip around to find courses that best fit your needs as a
writer.

4. What Is Poetry, Exactly?
• Many definitions exist, but poetry generally employs:
– Heightened language
– Compact forms
– Literary devices such as metaphor or alliteration
– Breaks (lines, stanzas…)

5. Types of Poetry
• Formal Verse
– Sonnet
– Haiku
– Songs
– Cento
– Nonce forms
– Corrupted forms
• Free Verse
– Not really “free” of technical aspects
• Prose Poetry

6. The Making of Your Poems
• Form
– Villanelle
– Crown of sonnets
• Voice
– Psycholinguistics of each person
– Personal experiences
• Technical devices
– Rhyme
– Meter
– Syllable
– Allusion

7. Example: “Anya”
as snow
binds to tight jeans
like the shackles
she wore on the ship to her Shangri La
as streetlight
catches a gleam in her eyes,
a glimpse as she stares into
tonight
her fifteenth birthday.
Gaunt,
made-up,
wobbling in heels
too big for tiny feet,
heels
that sparkle and clack
against cold concrete
as wind
whips her teased hair
like a lasso
roping a steer

8. Editing
• As-you-go editing
• Formal editing

9. Publishing
• Traditionally publish
• Self-publish
• Live performance

10. Publishing Traditionally
• Venues
– Journals/anthologies
– Contests
• Considerations
– Match
– Resume
– Acceptance rate
– Simultaneous submissions
– Previously published

11. Self-Publish
• Venues
– Online platforms (Kindle, Instagram…)
– Publisher prints books
• Considerations
– Marketing your work
– Eligibility for awards
– Cost can be minimal or significant

12. Live Performance
• Venues
– Formal poetry slams
– Open mic nights
– YouTube and other online video platforms
• Considerations
– Geography
– Copywriting
– Marketing

13. Finding Support
• Writers’ associations
• Online forums
• Social networking groups

14. Next Steps
• Dive deeper in this series with technical aspects of writing poetry
• Read poetry
– Anthologies
– Online journals
– Poetry readings
– Anywhere else you can find poetry

15. Good Resources
• Creating Poetry (John Drury)
• The Prosody Handbook (Robert Beum and Karl Shapiro)
• The Poetry Dictionary (John Drury)
• A Poet’s Ear (Annie Finch)
• The Book of Forms (Lewis Turco)
• The Art and Craft of Poetry (Michael Bugeja)