A 12-week online poetry class with Erica Goss designed to help you find inspiration from art and bring it to the page.

If you ever sit down to write a poem and don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. Staring at a blank page is frustrating—and normal. But you don’t have to conjure poems from thin air. Ekphrasis, the practice of writing in response to visual art, gives you a powerful creative spark to guide your pen.

In this 12-week online class with poet Erica Goss, you’ll explore the work of Expressionist painters who focused on subjective emotions, inner experiences, and spiritual themes, moving beyond literal descriptions. Expressionism, an art and poetry movement that started in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century and spread worldwide.

Each week, you’ll explore a new artist—people like Franz Marc, Marianne Werefkin, Gabriele Münter, and Egon Schiele—and let their work take you somewhere unexpected. You’ll ask yourself how the work moves you, what you can relate to and what seems strange–and then write in response.

You’ll create poems that reflect your inner landscapes while drawing on the inspiration of another artist’s vision.

In class, you’ll also look at how Expressionism overlapped with other art movements of the time–Cubism, Surrealism, and Dadaism–and how these artists reacted, in their work, to what they saw as the dehumanizing effect of industrialization.

And, as part of a writing community, you’ll comment constructively on your fellow participants’ work, giving and receiving feedback respectfully. By the end of the course, you’ll have twelve drafts or completed poems, one for each week, and an appreciation for ekphrasis as an inspiration for poetic creativity.

What you’ll get:
-Twelve new poems, one each week, inspired by visual art
-A creative process that helps you overcome the blank page
-Fresh perspectives from Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, and Dada
-Meaningful feedback in a supportive, respectful space
-Weekly structure that keeps you writing—and makes it fun

Dates: Tuesdays, 9/9, 9/16, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 12/2. (no class 11/25)

Times: 6-7:30 pm

Location: Online in the Wordcrafters Zoom Room (Meeting link sent with registration)

Price:
Access: $344 – if you have limited access to funds

Sustainer: $459 – the actual cost of this program

Patron: $574 – if you have more access to resources and can support others who need to pay less

Choose the ticket price that best reflects your financial capacity. We trust you to discern your level of need or ability to help others with less access to wealth.

Learn more about our Pay From Your Heart Pricing: https://wordcrafters.org/pfyh/

Scholarship info: We want everyone to have access to our writing programs. If you need additional support, please complete our scholarship request form: https://wordcrafters.org/scholarships/

Your instructor

Erica Goss (she/her) served as Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, CA from 2013-2016. In 2019, she won the Zocalo Poetry Prize. She is the author of Night Court, winner of the 2016 Lyrebird Award; Wild Place; and Vibrant Words: Ideas and Inspirations for Poets.