How Do I Begin and End? A Poetry Workshop with Sharon Dolin (via Zoom)

Entrances and exits to a poem are usually more problematic than its middle, yet many poets struggle with these two vital moments in a poem or else find themselves repeating the same gestures and techniques. As T.S. Eliot wrote in The Four Quartets, “What we call the beginning is often the end / And to make an end is to make a beginning.” In this four-hour workshop, we look at outstanding examples of poems deploying different strategies for opening and closing. Afterwards, in a supportive atmosphere, we discuss at least one poem by each participant to suggest ways to sharpen its beginning and ending to make the poem as engaging as possible.

Sharon Dolin is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently Imperfect Present (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2022); a prose memoir entitled Hitchcock Blonde (Terra Nova Press, 2020); and two books of translation, most recently Late to…