Driven by Obsession: Writing What You Can’t Outrun: A 6-Week Poetry Workshop with Alexis Sears (Zoom)

Some subjects return to us again and again — not because we choose them, but because they refuse to leave us alone. In this generative workshop, we’ll dive into our obsessions head-first: the memories, uncertainties, and desires we can’t escape. Through close readings, discussion, and writing prompts, we’ll explore the craft of poetic obsession. Is it more suited to certain forms than others? How do we write about our fixations in ways that surprise rather than repeat? And what’s the trick to personalizing universal obsessions like romance or grief?

As poets, we may be especially prone to rumination — now is the time to celebrate that! By the end of the course, you’ll have thoroughly examined what haunts you. With the help of your classmates, you’ll transform what you can’t outrun into the poem you can’t stop reading.

This is a 6-week class that meets on October 14, 21, 28,…