about.
Brittany Perham's most recent book, Double Portrait (W.W. Norton, 2017), was selected by Claudia Rankine for the Barnard Women Poets Prize and was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award. She is also the author of The Curiosities (Free Verse Editions, 2012); and, with Kim Addonizio, the collaborative word/art project The Night Could Go in Either Direction (SHP, 2016). Her work has received support from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, the James Merrill House Foundation, the University of Kentucky Mill House Residency Program, the Vermont Studio Center, the Wallace Stegner Fellowship Program, and Yaddo. She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University and she lives in San Francisco.
Contact: bperham (at) stanford (dot) edu or Caroline Saine at csaine (at) wwnorton (dot) com.
events.
2023
Spring Workshops.
Please email me for more information or to inquire about manuscript consultations.
Writing the Prose Poem - April 11 & 18
Have you ever written a few strange sentences on a bar napkin and wondered how you might turn them into a piece of writing? In this workshop we’ll consider the prose poem, and the generative possibilities that lie outside traditional conceptions of genre. Because a prose poem works differently than a lineated poem or short story, this is a form that encourages risk-taking and playfulness. The form also invites a deep consideration of syntax, structure, and voice. On the first day, we’ll read published work and experiment with generative exercises designed to challenge and shift our established writing habits. The second day of the class will include a full-group workshop, in which participants will receive feedback on one of their pieces. Each person will come away with several new drafts, as well as a prose poem they’ve crafted and workshopped.
Radical Revision - April 25 & May 2
Do you want to feel more joy, surprise, and generative energy when you revise your poems? This workshop is designed for writers who want to strengthen and invigorate their revision practice. In the first session, students will bring a poem (or poems) to share that they are working to revise. We’ll work these drafts by trying out radical revision games designed to help us make large-scale changes, move beyond our original intentions, and discover the things we don’t know. We’ll ask our poems important craft questions (about speaker, structure and form, precision, etc.) and talk about the difference between revising and editing. In all of the exercises we do, our aim will be to teach ourselves to locate new energy in our old drafts—and to make poems that feel alive. In the second session, we’ll talk about small-scale changes and what it means to finish a poem; participants will also have a chance to share their radical revisions and receive feedback from the group.
ARTWORK BY BRITTANY PERHAM.
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