Workshop Description:

When we write poems about our lives, what we want is to share the beauty and sometimes the pain. But how close can we get to achieving this goal? This class will help you push the truth of your experiences in that direction. No matter what we write about, our poems come from within, from emotions and memories, good and bad, of every event from the most mundane to the most tragic. What might a poem about the first popsicle you ever tasted be like? Would it be a poem? Would anyone care about such a personal experience? In this course, we will explore those foundational events with intention. We will get as close as we can, down to the splinters in the popsicle stick and the stains on our fingers. Then we will extract its beauty.

Workshop Details: Closed to registration

Spring 2025
Six sessions with Melody Wilson
Wednesday Evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 PM (ET)
Dates: May 21, 28, June 4, 11, 18, 25
$264
Join the wait list for Truth Before Beauty

Workshop Facilitator:

Melody Wilson is a Pushcart nominated poet whose work appears in One, The Emerson Review,
B O D Y, Crab Creek Review, Rust and Moth, and many other publications. Her first collection was awarded the Paul Nemser Prize from Lily Poetry Review and will be released in 2026. A graduate of Pacific University’s MFA program, she lives in Beaverton, Oregon with her husband Phillip and their dog Z. Find more of her work at melodywilson.com.

Comments:

Melody Wilson's prompts are creative and generative. She has a good sense of what makes writers find new ideas and ways of thinking about old ideas. Also, her feedback is always specific and constructive--she can find the kernel and help develop it into something.  – Ann Stinson, author of The Ground at My Feet: Sustaining a Family and a Forest, finalist for the Oregon Book Award, 2023

I took Melody’s class as a beginner. She has a firm, but gentle touch. I never felt overwhelmed. She heard what I was trying to express and responded in a way that encouraged me to move deeper into my poem. I learned to see images as a way to tell. She made me believe in myself as a poet. Because of her, I continue on my poetic journey.  – MaryJo Cook

I was with Melody for the "Truth Before Beauty" class and her prompts were incredibly generative and interesting--they made me think outside the box and write in a different way than I ever had before. We also got the opportunity to submit a few poems to a Google Drive for feedback, within which Melody included in-depth and with line-by-line comments that were very helpful.

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.