Yusef Komunyakaa was on our faculty in 2020. See this year’s poetry faculty.
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Advanced Poetry with Yusef Komunyakaa
Poetry workshop in New Jersey
January 17-20, 2020
Led by Special Guest Yusef Komunyakaa
*Limited to just 10 participants per session.*
The poetry workshops are at the heart of the Winter Getaway. Experienced poets taking Advanced Poetry are invited to work with Yusef Komunyakaa during one of their three group feedback sessions.
In Yusef’s workshop, you will receive constructive feedback on a poem in progress (30 line maximum) or a new poem written to the day’s assignment. He will help you identify your poem’s virtues and offer suggestions to strengthen its weaknesses. Since you already know the basics, he will encourage you to push your boundaries by taking imaginative and linguistic risks so you can make breakthroughs in your poetry.
How it works
- There is a $100 surcharge for this group session, which is limited to 10 participants. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to one intensive session with Yusef per person.
- Note: The session with Yusef is not a one-on-one tutorial, but a group workshop with 10 participants.
During your two additional feedback sessions, you will work with other members of our talented faculty. Each has a unique and encouraging style, which will nurture your poetry in different ways.
Learn more about the Advanced Poetry Workshop.
“A poem that I wrote at the Getaway a mere 2 weeks ago has just been accepted by Gargoyle, a Virginia journal. I only submitted it on Sunday and the editor, Richard Peabody, took it right away. I listened very carefully to the suggestions during the workshop, and spent time working on the revision. I’ve had several other Getaway poems published, but this is the soonest after a Getaway! I can’t tell you how much this good news has uplifted my spirits!”
~ Shirley, Baltimore, MD
Biography
Yusef Komunyakaa’s books of poetry include Neon Vernacular (for which he received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry), Taboo, Warhorses, The Emperor of Water Clocks and many others. His plays, performance art and libretti have been performed nationally and include Wakonda’s Dream, Saturnalia, Testimony and Gilgamesh: a verse play. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Louisiana Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. He currently teaches at New York University. Listen to him read his poem “Facing It” or read more of his work. (If you have Netflix, look for Yusef in The OA, season 1, episode 2.)
