Starts Sunday, June 2nd, 2024

Open to All writers!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

Taught by Lauren Davis, author of the forthcoming short story collection The Milk of Dead Mothers (YesYes Books), the poetry collection Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press), the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize short-listed When I Drowned (Kelsay Books), and the chapbooks Each Wild Thing’s Consent (Poetry Wolf Press) and The Missing Ones (Winter Texts). She is also the author of the forthcoming micro-chapbook Sivvy (Whittle Micro-Press), which is a collection of erasure poems of Sylvia Plath’s letters. She holds an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars.

Read an interview with Lauren on Reading and Writing Plath.

In this weekly workshop we will take an intimate look at the life and writing of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sylvia Plath (1932-1963). Exploring her journals, letters, novel, and poetry, we will use her work as inspiration for the creation of new poems. We will also give each other constructive feedback in a supportive environment.

Sylvia Plath's writing is often overshadowed by her biography. In this workshop, we will look deeper into the gifts she left her readers. We will honor her legacy with respect and admiration for her determined striving to tell the emotional truth. Celebrate and learn from the timeless work of a treasured poet.

Students will read prose and poetry by Sylvia Plath, as well as essays about Plath and poetry inspired by Plath. All reading will be provided by Davis.

COURSE OUTLINE:

• Week One: An Introduction to Sylvia Plath
• Week Two: Plath’s Early Poems
• Week Three: The Bell Jar / Workshop
• Week Four: Plath’s Journals and Letters / Workshop
• Week Five: Ariel / Workshop
• Week Six: Plath’s Legacy / Workshop
  

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Eight newly drafted poems inspired by Plath’s writing.
• Four workshopped poems inspired by Plath’s writing.
• A deeper understanding and appreciation for Plath’s writing process.
  

TESTIMONIALS:

"This class exceeded my expectations. I loved all of the creative exercises we were given. I felt like I learned so much in a short amount of time." -former student

"I loved this class, particularly Lauren's suggestions to revise, break apart, and rethink words." -former student

"I'm so happy I signed up for this class. My favorite parts were Lauren's suggestions for intensive practice and her unusual revision techniques." -former student

"I loved Lauren's Break Your Poem class, and I found her ideas on rewriting your poem as a lipogram and fitting my poem into another poet's created form." -former student

"This class totally exceeded my expectations. Now I have so many more tools as a poet. I would highly recommend this class." -former student

"I loved how the exercises built on each other, and had potential to be blended. Five of five stars." -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class is entirely asynchronous which means you complete the weekly assignments on your own schedule. There are no set meeting times in order to allow for greater participation; your cohort will consist of writers from across different time zones, which allows for a wonderful diversity of voices.

Along with your weekly deadlines there is plenty of interaction with Lauren and your peers within Wet Ink, our dedicated online classroom. Craft materials, lectures, reading assignments, and writing prompts are all available through the online classroom. Students also post work and provide and receive feedback within the online classroom environment.

You can get the work done as you see fit week-to-week, so it is perfect for any schedule. There are discussion questions each week inspired by the assigned readings and topics in the lecture notes. Students are encouraged to take these wherever is most compelling and/or useful for them. Lauren engages with these discussions throughout the week and you will receive feedback from all assigned writing activities.

HOW DOES WET INK WORK?

Wet Ink was built and designed specifically for online writing classes. Wet Ink is private, easy to use, and very interactive. You can learn more about the Wet Ink platform by Watching a Class Demo.

• Instructor: Lauren Davis
• Class starts Sunday, June 2nd, 2024
  
• Course is fully ONLINE; students can work according to their own schedule within weekly deadlines. Once you have enrolled the instructor will send you a link to our online classroom, provided via Wet Ink.

Instructor Lauren Davis is the author of the forthcoming short story collection The Milk of Dead Mothers (YesYes Books), the poetry collection Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press), the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize short-listed When I Drowned (Kelsay Books), and the chapbooks Each Wild Thing’s Consent (Poetry Wolf Press) and The Missing Ones (Winter Texts). She is also the author of the forthcoming micro-chapbook Sivvy (Whittle Micro-Press), which is a collection of erasure poems of Sylvia Plath’s letters. She holds an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She is a former Editor in Residence at The Puritan’s Town Crier, and she is the winner of the Landing Zone Magazine’s Flash Fiction Contest. Her stories, essays, poetry, interviews, and reviews have appeared in numerous literary publications and anthologies including Prairie Schooner, Spillway, Poet Lore, Ibbetson Street, Ninth Letter and elsewhere. Davis lives with her husband and two black cats on the Olympic Peninsula in a Victorian seaport community.