Poetry: The Art of Listening,” is a 90-minute workshop led by Marc Beaudin that explores the crafting of poems through the art of listening. We’ll examine ways of listening to the world around and within us, where our poems are waiting to be found. We will also practice listening for the music of the poem and allowing this internal music to guide our writing. We will discuss and practice finding the poem, trusting the poem to say what it needs to say, and hearing the poem’s authentic music. The workshop is open to adults at any stage of their writing journey, from total novice to seasoned practitioner. Space is limited to 15 participants. Bring your favorite writing implement and a journal or notebook. A light dinner will be provided.
The workshop will be followed by a public poetry reading and discussion, expanding on these same themes. Workshop participants are encouraged to attend.
About the Speaker
Beaudin is a poet, theatre artist, and bookseller based in Livingston, Montana. He is originally from Bay City and Saginaw, where he helped produce the weeklong Theodore Roethke Poetry Festival every spring, and was a founding director of the 303 Collective. In addition to These Creatures of a Day, he is the author of Life List: Poems, Vagabond Song: Neo-Haibun from the Peregrine Journals, and the spoken word album From Coltrane to Coal Train: An Eco-Jazz Suite featuring music by members of the bands Morphine and Twinemen: Dana Colley, Billy Conway, and Laurie Sargent. Widely anthologized in publications dedicated to environmental and social justice, he believes the Brahms Violin Concerto in D is more powerful than all the guns, bombs, and boardrooms of the world.