Wish You Were Here: The Art of the Postcard Poem

Dates: Mondays, Nov. 11, 18, 2024

What is a postcard poem? Exactly what it sounds like, a brief epistolary poem that fits on the back of a postcard.

In this short two-part interactive workshop you will read through and discuss several exemplar postcard and other short-form poems before rolling up your sleeves for some light-weight in-class writing exercises. Homework will be given for those who wish to continue the adventure between sessions.

Poems composed will largely be between four to eight lines, and can be written in free verse, regular meter, or even as a short prose poem. This workshop will be a great laboratory for those new to the art of writing poems, as well as experienced writers who wish to focus on honing particular skills of conciseness and diction.

So, dust off that bin of postcards you have collected from your travels or cards you have received from others. Don't have a collection of postcards already? Not to fear, the instructor will also provide images of postcards for students to work from.

Tamara Nichol-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.

Recordings of classes missed will be provided.

This class will include:

• Lecture
• Discussion
• Workshop
• Handouts

Host or Publisher Catholic Literary Arts