Led by Lauren Brazeal Garza, an author and Ph.D. candidate in literature at the University of Texas at Dallas with an MFA in writing from Bennington College. Her published poetry collections include Gutter (YesYes Books, 2018), a memoir-in-verse which chronicles her homelessness as a teenager. She has also published three chapbooks, most recently Santa Muerte Santa Muerte: I was Here Release Me (Tram Editions, 2023), which features fictional interviews with ghosts. Her work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, and Verse Daily among many other journals.

Part of every poet’s journey is discovering and cultivating their own unique voice and style. In this four-week generative workshop, we will explore and experiment with a variety of approaches to writing poems. We will discuss how form, metaphor, symbols, and other experiments on the page can lead to surprising and delightful results within our work. We will also study the unique and remarkable styles of poets such as Jose Hernandez Diaz, Kay Ryan, Danez Smith, Carolyn Forche, and Naomi Shihab Nye.

Each session will feature a discussion of style within one famous poem, and an exploration of different approaches to crafting our own poems through generative prompts that encourage experimentation and growth.

Each meeting will also offer the opportunity for each student to workshop one of their own poems with the group for the purpose of receiving constructive, supportive feedback All students will also receive weekly written feedback from me on a draft of their choice.

Through our discussions and explorations, we will discover interesting ways to add dimension and emotion to our poems through a variety of styles. Moving closer to discovering and cultivating each poet’s unique style and voice within their work.

At the close of the course, each student will choose one poem they are most proud of to share with the class during our final Zoom session as part of a celebratory reading.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1 - Introduction: The Magical and Surreal

Week 2 - Writing Our Joy

Week 3 - Metaphor and Anti-Metaphor

Week 4- Course Finale: Final Reading, Reflections, and Looking Towards the Future

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• We will discuss and draw inspiration from the poems of contemporary poets whose styles are uniquely their own.
• We will cultivate and experiment with our own unique style by workshopping one draft of a poem per week to the class, begun during in-class writing sessions based on open-ended generative prompts.
• Each student will have the opportunity to submit one draft of a poem per week to me to receive written constructive feedback.
• We will gain experience reading our work in front of a supportive audience of our peers throughout the course.
• We will leave the course with a better toolbox for writing poetry, a better understanding of our own poetic voice, and deeper insight into reading the work of other poets.

COURSE TEXTS:

All reading material listed on the calendar for this course will be provided at no cost.

TESTIMONIALS:

“I love love loved this course! It was super fun and I had a great time. I especially appreciated how much freedom we were given for the writing prompts, and the structure of the workshop and peer comments were so effective and helpful.” -David R.

“This was one of the most charming and well-put-together courses I've had the pleasure of taking. Discussions were open and full of ideas, coupled with informative lectures. If you participated in class, the rewards were clear and obvious. Ms. Brazeal Garza was an excellent teacher for this subject and genuinely had me interested in new topics.” -Tiffany W.

"Lauren is phenomenal! She is extremely passionate, kind, and smart. She has the student's best interests at heart and makes great points on improving our writing. One of the best writing instructors I've had. I hope more writers take her classes in the future. She is also very organized and is a great overall teacher" -Megan K.

"This was most definitely one of my favorites from this year. The course was extremely flexible, and I found substantial value from the course material” -Mark L.

“I enjoyed everything about this class! Lauren did a wonderful job engaging us and giving us the space to grow and improve as writers. I'll definitely take more courses from her in the future." -Troy N.

"Lauren gave me room to grow and showcase what I can achieve as both a creative writer and reader. I'm so grateful for her class and her insights, which have genuinely made me a better writer." -Alex S.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: