Led by Joan Kwon Glass, a diasporic, mixed-race, Korean American poet, author of the poetry collection DAUGHTER OF THREE GONE KINGDOMS which won the 2025 Paterson Poetry Prize, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry, the IPPY Gold Medal for Poetry & the Perugia Press Poetry Prize & was a finalist for the 2025 Balcones Poetry Prize & the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize. Her book, NIGHT SWIM, won the 2021 Diode Book Prize. Joan’s poems have been featured on NPR & in Poetry, The Slowdown, Poetry Daily, Passages North, Poetry Northwest, Korea Quarterly, Prairie Schooner & elsewhere. She is a 2025 SWWIM Writer in Residence & has been a visiting writer at The Frost Place, the Emily Dickinson Museum, Amherst College, Smith College & Wesleyan University. Joan lives near New Haven, CT.

Many of us are the grieving people, relationships, places & experiences from which we are estranged.

Grief is not limited to mourning the deceased.

How does estrangement lend itself to a unique sort of grief? How does it shape our voice? What images, language & poetic forms effectively convey this grief & how might we use these to generate compelling, impactful poems?

In this five-session, online workshop, we will read & write poems of estrangement using prompts inspired by writers like Seamus Isaac Fey, Lucille Clifton, Eugenia Leigh, Matthew E. Henry, Anne Sexton, Melissa Fite Johnson, Suji Kwock Kim, Louise Gluck, Miller Oberman, Brittany Rogers & many more.

All course materials & readings will be shared in a pdf slideshow.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week One: In our first session, we will introduce ourselves, review community guidelines & workshop structure & resources, discuss the different forms of estrangement, engage in brainstorming activities & write poems inspired by writers such as Lisa Baird, Seamus Isaac Fey & Hanif Abdurraqib.

Week Two: This week, we will write poems inspired by writers such as Nick Flynn, Franny Choi & Danez Smith, writers who explore what it means to be estranged from society & self.

Week Three: In week three, we will write poems inspired by writers such as Anne Sexton, Edgar Kunz & Brittany Rogers, writers who write powerful poems on familial estrangement.

Week Four: This week we will write poems inspired by writers such as Miller Oberman, Eugenia Leigh & Donald Nurkse. We will hear from a guest writer who will share their process related to writing on estrangement. 

Week Five: In our final session, we will write poems inspired by writers such as Lucille Clifton, Hala Alyan & Noah Arm Choi. We will have breakout rooms related to revision & publishing & will conclude by sharing our work verbally.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Students will become versed in the canon of poets who write on estrangement & practice writing their own estrangement poems during class.
• Students will read powerful examples of poetic voice & develop their own voices & styles related to the complex & personal topic of estrangement.
• Students will learn about & gain experience using poetic tools such as the volta & experimentation with white space.
• Students will gain familiarity with poetic forms such as the Seussian sonnet, contrapuntal, nocturne, epistle & elegy.

TESTIMONIALS:

“Joan’s 6 week class was great! She provided a wide variety of readings and unique writing prompts each class which made it easy to generate new writing. She also gave ample opportunity to share our work in a supportive environment. Her comments and reactions to our first drafts were always encouraging. Joan has a friendly competency about her that made the class relaxed and engaging. Look forward to future classes with her!“
Nancy Murphy

“I was so fortunate to be able to take a generative poetry writing course with Joan Kwon Glass. Joan led a wonderful, dynamic discussion each week, provided thoughtful, insightful feedback on poems drafted during the course, and created a syllabus full of inspiring prompts and poems to spark new work. I hope to take another class with her -soon!” -Marceline White

“I have had a broad range of experience with all kinds of classes, programs, and collaborations where everyone brings something personally important to the table to make progress on. You provided a space that opened up more and more every session, and I believe this is in part due to the universal respect you gave each and every one of our works. You smoothly identified what each poem was asking for and went beyond to foster new possibilities for us as poets. This lead each of us to grow not only as writers, but as gardeners of each other’s poetry as well. By encouraging us to look beyond what we want out of poems, and instead delve into what the poetry wants itself, your course became a yoga of honoring what’s said and unsaid. Thank you.“ -Sam Canney

“I had the pleasure of taking Joan Kwon Glass’s Poetic Magic class in the fall of 2022. To say the experience was one of growth would be a gross understatement. In this generative workshop, I found a whole new way to look at my work while being exposed to new and exciting poems I had not yet discovered. This launched me into a writing frenzy, producing several poems I hope to see published in my newest collection! Not only was there ample time for writing, exploring others work, and workshop feedback, but Joan’s guidance as a patient and wise instructor with a humble and encouraging demeanor helped to elicit the best from each poem and poet. Her support and insight have been instrumental in my growth in the craft of poetry, and I can’t recommend her highly enough.“ -R.B. Simon, Author of The Good Truth and Not Just the Fire

“Joan is an incredibly kind, welcoming, and supportive teacher. Her classes are deeply engaging and well researched, and she introduces her students to a wide variety of poets and new and important work. Her generative prompts are inspiring, and she offers thoughtful and brilliant insight into work created in class.” -Jill Kitchen

"Joan Kwon Glass’s three-hour “New Woman Warrior Poetry” workshop was a transformative experience. She’s a warm, welcoming teacher who dives into the heart of poems; and every student seemed to come alive in the discussions. Joan’s imaginative prompts were fantastic— I’m still using them. Plus, her individual feedback was smart, unusually detailed and insightful. I recommend Joan’s workshop to poets at any stage of their writing career." -Carla Sarrett

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: