by Writing Workshops Staff
A month ago
In the quiet moments between deadlines in his Portland home, John Sibley Williams assembles worlds with carefully chosen words that have earned him the Wabash Prize, the Philip Booth Award, and four national book awards. His meticulous yet intuitive process transforms individual poems into cohesive collections that resonate with readers and critics alike.
"There is no 'end,' per se," Williams says about his writing process, considering how poetry defies traditional narrative boundaries. "Often, as soon as I'm happy with, hopefully even proud of, a poem, I'm on to the next."
This endless cycle of creation has yielded six full-length collections, including Scale Model of a Country at Dawn and The Drowning House, works that demonstrate Williams' gift for finding meaning in the spaces between words.
Now, through Writing Workshops, he's offering to share what might be his most valuable skill as an instructor: the architecture of building a poetry manuscript that speaks with a singular voice while containing multitudes.
His upcoming Building Your Collection: Poetry Manuscript Workshop Series doesn't just promise instruction: it offers transformation.
The four-week Zoom intensive is designed for poets at any stage, whether clutching a handful of disconnected poems or wrangling an unwieldy manuscript draft. Williams' approach blends the tactical with the inspirational, tackling everything from thematic coherence to the pragmatics of publication.
"One of the most common questions I've been asked over the decades is how to compose, order, thematically build, and eventually find a publisher for a poetry collection," Williams explains. The answers, it seems, are as varied as poetry itself, but Williams has distilled them into actionable guidance. His 60-page workbook, a cornerstone of the course, maps the journey from composition to publication with the precision of someone who has traversed this landscape repeatedly.
What distinguishes Williams' methodology is his understanding that a poetry collection is not merely a compilation but a conversation between poems, with readers, and with the broader literary tradition. "As poetry is so radically different than prose in terms of literary expectations and how tightly individual pieces should cohere," he says, "I am excited to present this detailed, strategic yet also hands-on and practical workshop series."
The course addresses both the artistic and practical concerns of contemporary poets. Participants will learn to identify thematic threads in their work, reshape previously written poems to serve a unified vision, and structure their collections for maximum impact. But Williams also demystifies the often opaque world of publishing, providing templates for cover letters and strategies for targeting the right publishers for one's work.
Williams' teaching style, which he describes as "talkative, energetic, passionate, and poet-focused," creates an environment where creativity flourishes alongside craft. His favorite moment comes when students experience breakthrough realizations about their work: "witnessing that 'ah ha' moment when poets find new strategies suddenly click, opening their work up to new readers."
Finding inspiration "in almost everything, from my beautiful twin daughters to the sounds of deep forest," Williams embodies the omnivorous attention that characterizes great poets. This attentiveness extends to his teaching, where he meets each poet where they are while guiding them toward where they could be.
For Williams, the goal isn't merely publication, though that remains a concrete outcome for many of his students. It's about honoring the work itself. When asked about the most valuable writing advice he's received, his answer is characteristically straightforward: "If you are writing and taking your writing seriously, there is no such thing as failure."
In a literary landscape often fixated on external validation, Williams' workshop offers something rarer: a path to creating work that stands on its own terms, bound not just by a cover but by internal coherence and artistic vision. For poets ready to transform their verses into a collection that speaks with authority, Williams provides not just a roadmap but a companion for the journey.
To learn more, here is our brief interview with John:
Writing Workshops: Hi, John. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
John Sibley Williams: I'm been writing as long as I can remember, composing my first little story in third grade, though I didn't truly discover poetry until my early 20s. To get a sense of the full possibilities in the creative world, I've spent a year teaching middle school, a year teaching high school, and two years teaching adult students with developmental disabilities. I've also worked for three small presses, leading both marketing and acquisitions departments. After decades of writing and self-study, I eventually found my true passion: supporting authors via workshops, mentoring, and editing, which I have done full-time for about six years.
Writing Workshops: What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
John Sibley Williams: One of the most common questions I've been asked over the decades is how to compose, order, thematically build, and eventually find a publisher for a poetry collection. As poetry is so radically different than prose in terms of literary expectations and how tightly individual pieces should cohere, I am excited to present this detailed, strategic yet also hands-on and practical workshop series to help poets find their thematic threads, hone their voice, build a cohesive reader experience, and target publishers....from the ground all the way up to publication.
Writing Workshops: Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
John Sibley Williams: Expect to view manuscript samples and discuss techniques that can be applied to the process. We will explore all the ins-and-outs of organization and publishing a collection, from writing toward a given theme to setting and keeping to creative deadlines to learning how to submit smarter, not harder. Poets will be guided through a series of lessons and hands-on activities that each focus on a different aspect of creating, structuring, and finally publishing a new collection.
My favorite part of this series is witnessing that 'ah ha' moment when poets find new strategies suddenly click, opening their work up to new readers.
Writing Workshops: What was your first literary crush?
John Sibley Williams: As I've loved reading since early childhood, I don't really recall my first literary crush. But I recall adoring horror novels in middle school, Kafka and Kundera and Marquez in high school, and almost everything poetry since then. However, my favorite book has long been "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl.
Writing Workshops: What are you currently reading?
John Sibley Williams: "Fugitive/Refuge" by Philip Metres
Writing Workshops: How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
John Sibley Williams: I'm not sure if this question truly relates to poetry, as in poetry there is no 'end,' per se. Often, as soon as I'm happy with, hopefully even proud of, a poem, I'm on to the next. : )
Writing Workshops: Where do you find inspiration?
John Sibley Williams: In almost everything, from my beautiful twin daughters to the sounds of deep forest. From a single line of poetry or prose that breaks me just right to inspiring stories of strong individuals standing up for themselves and their communities.
Writing Workshops: What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
John Sibley Williams: If you are writing and taking your writing seriously, there is no such thing as failure.
Writing Workshops: What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
John Sibley Williams: For poets, the entire "The Art of..." series from Graywolf Press.
Writing Workshops: Bonus question: What's your teaching vibe?
John Sibley Williams: Talkative, energetic, passionate, and poet-focused.
Learn more about John's upcoming class, Building Your Collection: Poetry Manuscript Workshop Series 4-Week Zoom Intensive, and sign up now to avoid the waitlist.
Instructor John Sibley Williams is the author of seven chapbooks and six full-length collections, four of which won national awards, 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). John has won the Wabash Prize for Poetry, Philip Booth Award, American Literary Review Poetry Contest, Phyllis Smart-Young Prize, Nancy D. Hargrove Editors' Prize, Confrontation Poetry Prize, and Laux/Millar Prize. Previous publishing credits include: The Yale Review, Midwest Quarterly, Southern Review, Sycamore Review, Prairie Schooner, The Massachusetts Review, Poet Lore, Saranac Review, Atlanta Review, TriQuarterly, Columbia Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Poetry Northwest, Third Coast, and various anthologies.
