Here are some general truths you will find to be true of a Jim Moreno Poetry course. If you have any questions about a specific course or general question do not hesitate to contact me.
What Happens in a Jim Moreno Poetry Course?
- Greetings and Introduction to the poets covered in the class
- Quotes on writing from the authors
- Poems from the poets and related poems from poets of other cultures and genres
- Introduction to prompts; lines of poetry paraphrased from covered poems
- Writing of an original poem in stanza form, using creative line-breaks
- Reading the poem out loud
- Revision writing a second or third draft
- E-mailing the poem from each section of the class to Jim
- At the end of each quarter three poems will be awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
- Winning poems will be published on this website for the public
- 1st place prize $100
- 2nd place prize $50
- 3rd place prize $25
- Honorable Mention $10
- Honorable Mention $10
- At the end of the year a chapbook with the poems of the winners will be published from Dolphin Calling Press with five winning poems from each quarter published in the chapbook. Winners will be able to download the book for free or purchase a copy of the chapbook at cost. The general public will also be offered the opportunity to purchase the chapbook
What is a Jim Moreno Poetry Class?
- A safe place to write from your heart
- A class to read poetry from many cultures
- A class to quiet your editor and let your poet write
- A place to see poetry as story-telling (narrative)
- A place of intuitive and rational resources/tools for your Muse
- A class of supportive, encourging on-line learning
- A class to wake your editor after the poem is done
- A class to learn to move from threads, to string, to chord, to rope, to rope bridge, to steel bridge as a model of story-telling/narrative
- A class for someone to learn to like writing as showing not telling a story
What is not a Jim Moreno Poetry Class?
- Not a course to find a reading audience but a class to find your voice
- Not a critique course but a self-discovery class
- Not a course to feed your ego but a class to grow your confidence
- Not a workshop for someone who is hyper-competitive but a writing class that might win you monetary prizes in quarterly contests
- Not a workshop for someone who thinks writing a poem is an event and not a process
- Not a workshop for someone who doesn’t like revision
- Not a workshop for someone who doesn’t like to read poetry out loud
- Not a workshop for someone who is only comfortable with Eurocentric poetry
- Not a workshop for someone who only wants to write in an esoteric or difficult style