X for Poets: Reviews and Interviews for Poets: A Two-Part Workshop

Session 1: Reviews and Interviews Are Poetry Too

Finding yourself in the poetry of others is a revelatory experience—and it is probably why so many of us write poetry in the first place. But how does one articulate that revelation and put it into words? How do we illuminate our experience for others and help them see what we see in the poems we love? Reviewing new poetry collections and interviewing contemporary poets is a quintessential part of being a poet: it is about reading deeply, learning our craft, sharing and asking questions—but also making a crucial contribution to the poetic ecosystem. After all, if we, poets, do not bring a spotlight to each other's work, who will? In this workshop, we'll read examples of poet-critics at their best, and attempt our own reviews and interview questions—discovering that the act of writing about poetry is itself a poetic act.

Session 2: Poetics, Pre-Faces, and Pre-Rambles

You wrote a book of poems. You found one of your many voices. You came up with a new poetic form. An ancient poetic form found you. Writing a preface helps you frame the reader's experience—and more importantly, it helps you articulate your own practice and vision. And yet, how many prefaces have you read that actually captivated you? So many prefaces out there are perfunctory, indulgent, plain boring. In this workshop, we'll explore the work of poets Jerome Rothenberg and David Meltzer, who did not take their prefaces lightly but experienced them as extensions of their poetry—quiet manifestos, expanded conversations, mysterious strolls behind the curtain. We'll each attempt our own poetics statement, one that is every bit as alive as our poems.

Jake Marmer is a writer, performer, and educator. His previous books include Cosmic Diaspora (Station Hill Press, 2020), The Neighbor Out of Sound (The Sheep Meadow Press, 2018), and Jazz Talmud (The Sheep Meadow Press, 2012). He has also released two klez-jazz-poetry records: Purple Tentacles of Thought and Desire (2020, with Cosmic Diaspora Trio) and Hermeneutic Stomp (Blue Fringe Music, 2013). Born in the provincial steppes of Ukraine — in a city renamed four times in the past hundred years — he lives in Philadelphia, PA. More at jakemarmer.com.

*Ticket Price: As we want our events to be accessible to all, our tickets are offered free of charge. Yet if you're able to donate—perhaps $18, or some multiple of 18, which in Jewish tradition signifies wishing long life and good luck to the recipient of the gift—all proceeds will go directly to supporting Yetzirah, making more events like this possible.

** If this fee is a hardship, Yetzirah offers a pay-what-you-can option for workshop participation. No one will be turned away for lack of funds, but please contact Program Coordinator Kyra Lisse at klisse@yetzirahpoets.org if you would like a sliding-scale ticket.

Yetzirah is a nonprofit organization, and any gift you make is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the law.