JumpStarting (the New Year) and Your Poem

That scene, that feeling, that overheard conversation: how do we getfrom strong feeling to words that express that feeling, in ways thatcapture the experience and light it up for the reader? How do we bringthe poem to the page?

Bend poet and Second Sunday reader Judy Montgomery invites you to joinher beginning January 24 for a three-session poetry workshop focusing onways to "jumpstart" the poem in stages (seeing/ describing; connectingthrough metaphor; exploring to see where thought and association take usin the larger realm of the world).

We'll look at the work of select contemporary poets such as YusefKomunyakaa and Diane Lockward to see how they tackle highly chargedsubjects. We'll write during the workshop as well as between sessions;we'll talk about our drafts, with each other as sounding boards in asupportive environment. Suitable for beginning as well as moreexperienced poets. Limit: 10.

Three sessions: 10:15 am - 1:15 pm on January 24 and 31; and onFebruary 7, 2009

The workshop will meet in the Hutchinson Room (upstairs, at the southend of the Deschutes Library downtown).

Cost: $60 for the three sessions. See Library website or Librarian LizGoodrich (617-7072) to sign up!

About Judy: Her poems appear in The Southern Review, The Bellingham Review,Dogwood, The Evansville Review, Gulf Coast, and Northwest Review, amongother journals, as well as in several anthologies, including White Ink:on Mothers and Mothering (2007) and Letters to the World (2008). She'sbeen awarded fellowships in poetry from Literary Arts and Oregon ArtsCommission to work on new manuscripts (Blue Field, Burning andInter/View); seven nominations for Pushcarts; and first prizes in poetryfrom the National Writers Union, Portland Pen, Americas Review, Red RockReview, Chaffin Journal, and The Bellingham Review. Her chapbook,Passion, received the 2000 Oregon Book Award for poetry. Her firstfull-length collection, Red Jess, appeared in February 2006. Her newchapbook, Pulse & Constellation, was a finalist for the Finishing LinePress Chapbook competition, and appeared in 2007. This past summer shejudged the New Women's Voices chapbook competition. Judith holdsa Ph.D. in American Literature from Syracuse University, and waspoet-in-residence at Central Oregon Community College in 2005 - 2006.