Threshold Arts

What is the purpose of poetry and what does it mean to be a poet? What qualities mark an experience as meaningful and how do we convey that meaning?

 

Philosopher and writer George Santayana described the function of poetry as a means of “seizing hold of the reality of sensation and fancy beneath the surface of conventional ideas, and then out of that living but indefinite material to build new structures, richer, finer, fitter to the primary tendencies of our nature, truer to the ultimate possibilities of the soul.”

 

The poet then is one who makes meaning, a craftsperson of an unmistakable thing—a poem—whose primary purpose is to move us toward a better understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. In this workshop, I will lead participants through a series of guided meditations, writing prompts, revision exercises, and discussions that explore the role of the poet as a one who makes sense of or reveals truths to help us understand ourselves and the world we inhabit. Each writer will leave the workshop with, if not a completed poem, a strong start toward that end.

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