Advanced Poetry Workshop

This workshop is for advanced poets who want to develop new content and deepen their craft. We’ll explore the building blocks of poetry: language, the line, poetic forms, narrative and lyric elements, and what we need to do to build the life of the poem. We'll see how what we learn manifests in our own work and that of accomplished mentor poets. We’ll write and revise ten poems and discuss making work public via readings and various types of publications. Poets whose works we explore may include Audre Lorde, Morgan Parker, Porsha Olayiwola, Patricia Smith, Ocean Vuong, Li-Young Lee, Terrance Hayes, and many others. Class is application-based and previous workshop experience is essential. Space is limited to nine poets.

Important dates:

The applications are now closed! 

The payment deadline for admitted students is Monday, March 20th.

To apply, please click the red "SEE DIRECTIONS TO APPLY" button in the top right corner of this page. This application will ask you to detail your workshop experience. It will also ask you to upload a 5-10 page writing sample. Please make sure this writing sample is in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, and in 12-point font. For tracking purposes, your name should appear in the file name (e.g. Smith.Memoir Title.Submission). Decisions will be emailed to applicants approx. 1 week after the deadline. You can also track the status of your application in your Grubstreet profile. Please make sure your application is complete before you finally click "APPLY." If you have any technical difficulties filling out this application, please email [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation email once our system has received your submission.

Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Scholarship Information

Please note: In order to be eligible for acceptance into an advanced class, you must submit an application via the “See Directions to Apply” button above. You can then submit a separate scholarship application via the “Apply for Scholarship” button. We cannot consider applicants who only fill out a scholarship application without applying to the class itself.

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.