Needle & Thread Poetry Workshop: Sequence Poems | June 2027 Online

Needle & Thread Writing Workshop: Weaving a Poetic Sequence with John Sibley Williams

Begins Wednesday, June 9, 2027
Class will meet for two sessions via Zoom on Wednesdays, June 9 and June 16, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone:

• Los Angeles (PDT): 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Chicago (CDT): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
• New York (EDT): 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor John Sibley Williams is the author of nine poetry collections, including Scale Model of a Country at Dawn (Cider Press Review Poetry Award), The Drowning House (Elixir Press Poetry Award), As One Fire Consumes Another (Orison Poetry Prize), Skin Memory (Backwaters Prize, University of Nebraska Press), skycrape (WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest), and Summon (JuxtaProse Chapbook Prize). His book Sky Burial: New & Selected Poems is forthcoming in translation from the Portuguese press do lado esquerdo. A thirty-five-time Pushcart nominee, John serves as editor of The Inflectionist Review and Poetry Editor at Kelson Books. Previous publishing credits include Best American Poetry, Yale Review, Verse Daily, North American Review, Prairie Schooner, and TriQuarterly.

Who is this class for?

This online poetry workshop is for poets of all levels interested in studying how sectioned and sequence poems work, and in learning to compose and weave sections together into a single poem with a strong, singular vision.

What to expect:

Poetry is not always synonymous with brevity. Some stories take more time to unfold, and some topics require more than a few stanzas of rumination. How can verse extend across multiple pages? What makes a poem’s multiple sections add up to more than the sum of its parts? What depth and variation can white space add to a long poem? What patterns can we identify, and later work from?

In this generative poetry writing workshop, we will read a variety of long poems and poem sequences and study their fabric and stitching. A sequence is a long poem that combines shorter pieces by relying on association, juxtaposition, and connection rather than theme or narrative to create an organic poetic whole. As a lyric poem is a center of intensity in a single moment in time, the sequence is a single moment in time that is an intersection of many centers of intensity.

John Sibley Williams approaches the sequence from two interrelated angles: weaving individual sections together into a cohesive whole and, the inverse, starting with a larger idea and breaking it down into individual poem sections. Each session of this online writing class includes writing time to put the lessons into practice, as you craft your own long poem or poem sequence, drawing from older work as well as starting from scratch through a variety of generative exercises. Time is also set aside for optional group sharing and feedback on individual work.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will begin to compose and polish at least two distinct sequence drafts, working from older poems as well as new material. Students will have the optional opportunity to share their drafts with the group during this creative writing course for feedback on how the sections work both independently and as a whole.

Readings

All materials are provided in an extensive handout and workbook with sample poems, information, tips, and prompts. No books are needed.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1 (Wednesday, June 9): Defining sequence poems and an overview of different strategies; Strategy 1: multiple poems with the same title; Strategy 2: sequential poems with different titles; prompt-based exercises; optional group sharing.

Week 2 (Wednesday, June 16): Discussion and optional group sharing of the sequence poem drafted the previous week; Strategy 3: creating thematic and structural sequence poems; prompt-based exercises; optional group sharing.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Understand how sequence poems rely on association, juxtaposition, and connection, rather than theme or narrative, to form an organic whole
• Practice three strategies: multiple poems with the same title, sequential poems with different titles, and thematic and structural sequences
• Weave individual sections into a cohesive whole, and break a larger idea down into individual sections
• Explore how white space and pattern add depth and variation to a long poem
• Begin composing and polishing at least two distinct sequence drafts, from older work or from scratch
• Keep an extensive workbook of samples, tips, and prompts to use long after class ends

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $180 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: John Sibley Williams
• Begins Wednesday, June 9, 2027
• Class will meet for two sessions via Zoom on Wednesdays, June 9 and June 16, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $180 USD.