The Persona Poem: Writing in Historic, Mythic, and Fictional Voices

The highly utilized strategy of a voice speaking the poem who is not the poet him or herself has produced poems of great vitality throughout the centuries. In this workshop, you will experiment with temporarily assuming the identity of a person from history, a character from your favorite novel, play, movie, or myth, and then writing a poem in that person’s voice and from his or her perspective.

To prime the pump, we will read and discuss a few exemplar persona poems as a group and engage in in-class writing exercises.

So whether you are stuck in a writing rut or just plain want to have some fun, come join us for this interactive three-part generative poetry workshop where we will try on being someone else to explore the art of the persona poem.

NOTE: In-class exercises and the homework are designed to accommodate all levels of experience in writing poetry.

Tamara Nicholl-Smith’s poetry has appeared on two Albuquerque city bus panels, one parking meter, numerous radio shows, a spoken-word classical piano fusion CD, and in several publications, including The Examined Life Journal, Catholic Arts Today and America. Her poem on Saint Jerome is part of the display of the Guttenberg Bible installed at the University of Saint Thomas. Tamara is a member of Catholic Literary Arts and a contributor to the “Joy of Catholic Poetry” and “Resurrection Joy” presentations done at parishes, schools, and universities. She is the coordinator of the annual Sacred Poetry Contest for CLA.

This class will include:

· Lecture

· Discussion

· Workshop

· Handouts

Host or Publisher Catholic Literary Arts