Q & A: Learn More About Second Sunday Book Club A Manuscript Workshop
With Melody Wilson
1. How do you envision the weekly manuscript review for Second Sunday Book Club?
Our first two meetings will be spent discussing one published poetry collection and one book about constructing a manuscript each. We will also clarify how the following sessions will work, including determining the order in which participants’ manuscripts will be presented as well as discussing a common method for reading and discussing manuscripts in our group.
Beginning in our third meeting, we will focus on one of the members’ manuscripts. In the weeks between meetings, members will read the selected manuscript using the structure we established earlier. For each member, we will first discuss the general arc of their manuscript, how it made the reader feel, then the structure of the manuscript, how the poems are put together, then finally, each member share a list of “must keep” and “perhaps let go” poems for the poet to consider. Also, given enough time, we will discuss individual poems that members found either interesting or problematic. Each participant will shed light on their understanding of the strengths of the manuscript, and elements that feel underdeveloped.
2. What is your approach to providing feedback in a manuscript-focused setting—do you provide feedback at the poem level, organizational level, narrative arc, etc?
All of these elements are discussed in an order we have found works well. We speak loosely about the narrative arc, or where we see a need for more guidance from the collection, then we look specifically at the structure of parts of the collection and the ordering of poems. Then we look at what we think of as anchor poems—which often affects order.
3. What qualities or level of readiness are you looking for in applicants? Are you also evaluating submitted manuscripts?
Emily and I will read every manuscript and participate as members. We will lead the discussion and be prepared to guide it as much as we need to. And because we submit and then read manuscripts on Google Docs, each member will receive a copy of their manuscript marked by every member of the group, Emily and myself included. Each participant will then have a version of their manuscript with feedback from each other participant. They can then choose to integrate feedback that works for them.
Applicants should have at least forty pages of poems they consider a collection with no single poem spanning more than two pages. They should be comfortable workshopping their poems and be prepared to hear both glowing and questioning feedback. Both Emily and I have been through this process, and it requires a good deal of trust both in your partners and in your own work. But everyone we have worked with found it deeply rewarding. This method refines each poet’s reading and feedback skills, as well as discernment in choosing what feedback to run with and what to set aside when their work is being read. All of these skills are invaluable to an engaged poetic life. We have found that although it can feel nerve-wracking to have so many eyes on your work, the method we use fosters a loving experience committed to helping their work go into the world at its best.
4. What should participants expect to gain by the end of the workshop—revision strategies, a more cohesive manuscript, submission readiness?
What a member gains is a very strong sense of how their work is read and a number of ideas about what to do next. They will be surprised about what is working well and what is working less well. They might find themselves with a new structure or a title that had been hiding from them. It isn’t a goal of the workshop that manuscripts be submission ready because we hope to “unstick” the manuscript or help it grow rather than to polish finished manuscripts. There will be more work to do after the workshop, but participants will be better prepared to do it.
Participants will also leave with a robust reading and feedback muscle, and may even leave with connections and a community they’d like to continue to foster after the group ends. Other than commitment and discipline, having strong readers is probably one of the most important qualities of pushing one’s poetry practice. Because of the nature of the work, we expect participants to leave with new friends in the poetry community.
It might be interesting to know that of the eight manuscripts in the last version of this process, four have now been finalists in at least one contest—that we know of.
5. What level of commitment do you expect from participants in terms of reading, written feedback, and attendance?
This is a workshop that requires attendance. We are building community, so from the beginning, time spent together is crucial. But as we move into working with each other’s manuscripts, attendance becomes more important than in regular workshops. After the first two sessions, we select one manuscript to carefully read and discuss as a group. Of course each member deserves equal time and equal attention, so participants should be prepared to both receive that attention and then to give it as well.
6. How do I apply?
Fill out the questionnaire form linked here and on the workshop page. Questionnaires will be reviewed in the order they arrive. Once four are approved, poets who are selected will receive an email from Melody and Emily, along with a registration link from River Heron Review.
Workshop Facilitators
Melody Wilson is a Pushcart nominated poet whose work appears in One, B O D Y, The Emerson Review, Crab Creek Review, Rust and Moth, and many other publications. Her collections have been finalist at The Catamaran Prize, both Cider Press Prizes, The Louisville Prize, and others. She received an Academy of American Poets Award, the Patricia Dobler Award, and was finalist for both the Iron Horse NaPoMo and Pablo Neruda Awards. Her first collection, Madre Dura, was awarded the Paul Nemser Prize from Lily Poetry Review Books and will be released in April 2026. A graduate of Pacific University’s MFA program, she lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband Phillip and their dog Z. Find more of her work at melodywilson.com.
Emily Kedar is an award-winning poet and practicing psychotherapist. Her work appears widely in literary journals including Best Canadian Poetry, Prairie Fire, The Malahat Review, The Bellevue Literary Review and the Maynard. She is the past winner of the CBC Toronto Poetry Face-Off. Her poetry has been translated into Spanish with Mothertongue Press and adapted for the stage with Canstage. Her manuscript, Felt Stars, was a finalist in the 2025 Cider Press Review Book Award. She received her MFA through Pacific University under the mentorship of Ellen Bass. She spends her time between Toronto and Salt Spring Island, Canada.
Questions: editors@riverheronreview.com
Refunds: Up to one week prior to the workshop start date, full refund minus $15 processing fee. After that time, there are no refunds.
Workshop sessions are not recorded, nor are there make up sessions.