Northeast Poetry Center to hold summer workshops

Warwick — The Northeast Poetry Center’s College of Poetry will offer two workshops July 9 until Aug. 27, behind Utopian Direction Books and Art at 7 West St. in Warwick. Enrollees are regarded as “guest poets,” and workshops are presented in a casual and open manner designed to be useful for writers of all levels of experience. The morning course, titled The Poet’s Tool-Box: Figures of Speech and Thought, will meet from 10 a.m. to noon. Led by William Seaton, the workshop will focus on the use of rhetorical figures, traditionally considered a distinguishing mark of poetry, and provide a powerful “tool-box” of devices used by all writers of every age. Participants will enlarge their own repertoire as they study the works of past poets and use this knowledge in their own poetic practice. Seaton has been active in poetry performance all his life, and has directed the Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series for over seventeen years. He posts five essays, literary and familiar, every month at williamseaton.blogspot.com. The afternoon workshop, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. is called Writing from the Heart: How Personal is Too Personal. Donna Reis will lead a consideration of questions: While narrators must give something of themselves, how much is too much? Do writers always divulge something personal whether they seem to tell all, coyly hint at the truth, or write in another person’s voice such as in a “dramatic monologue”? The class will explore and discuss twenty poets who’ve mastered confession and disguise, emotion and distance, followed by a writing exercise where students will practice the techniques discussed. Reis’ poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals. Tuition for each is $150. Call Seaton at 294-8085 or write seaton@frontiernet.net.