Starts Sunday, January 4th, 2026

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Taught by Lauren Davis, author of the short story collection The Nothing (YesYes Books), the poetry collection Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press), the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize short-listed When I Drowned, and the chapbooks Each Wild Thing’s Consent, The Missing Ones, and Sivvy. 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 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.

Discover the revolutionary voice of Enheduanna (c. 2300 BC), history's first named author, whose powerful poetry has influenced writers for over 4,000 years.

Long before Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 BC) and Homer (c. 900 BCE - c.700 BCE), this Akkadian poet and high priestess created verses that spoke of divine power, political upheaval, and human emotion with startling relevance to our modern world.

According to the journalist Becky Little, “British archaeologists rediscovered copies of her work in 1927, but it took several decades for scholars to credit Enheduanna as the author of her texts (some continue to argue she didn’t write them).”

In this intimate 4-week online workshop, you'll explore Enheduanna's rediscovered works as a catalyst for your own original poetry.

Despite being buried for millennia, her voice continues to resonate with contemporary poets seeking to blend the personal with the universal, the sacred with the political.

Note: Our peer workshop will utilize strict deadlines as a courtesy to ensure all participants have the same amount of time to participate and provide feedback to each other during the four weeks we are working together.

What You'll Experience:

• Private instructor feedback on four of your poems to refine your craft
• Weekly writing prompts inspired by Enheduanna's themes and techniques
  
• Peer feedback sessions on two of your original poems
  
• Historical context that will deepen your appreciation for poetry's ancient roots
  
• Revision techniques to strengthen your voice

Course Structure:

Week 1: Introduction to Enheduanna and initial writing exercises
Week 2: Submit first poem for peer and instructor feedback; new prompts
Week 3: Submit second poem; provide peer feedback; continue writing
Week 4: Final feedback round and looking toward future work

By course end, you'll have completed first drafts of at least nine original poems and gained insight into how ancient wisdom can inform contemporary verse. All reading materials provided.

Format: Asynchronous online workshop using Wet Ink platform

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, January 4th, 2026
  
• 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.