A shiny new lullabies & alarms website, upcoming workshops, and a gift exchange!
Poetry craft hub
I'm excited to announce I’ve made a website that draws together all my poetry-related teaching efforts:
It serves as a poetry craft hub, bringing together all my various offerings in one place and allowing for easy purchases. I have lots of exciting plans, too—including workbooks, posters, and an upcoming TikTok account.
Upcoming workshops
Art as Conversation: Tools for Fostering Engagement
An in-person workshop in Berlin, VT on Saturday, September 30.Poetry About a Difficult Past: One Approach
Another date/time for this popular free Zoom workshop: Wednesday, September 20th at 3:00 EST.
Tools for Playing Graphically with Text: A Quick Canva Tutorial for Poets
The first workshop was a hit, so I’m offering it again on Zoom, on Sunday, October 22 at 1:00 EST.
Free Feedback
To celebrate the launch of the website, a gift exchange:
During the month of September 2023, anyone who is a subscriber to this newsletter (it’s free!) can email me one poem and I'll respond with detailed feedback.
Instead of payment for this service, what I’d love to receive is a personal recommendation—just introduce my work (the lullabies & alarms Substack, or the new website, or a particular course or workshop) to a friend or colleague who might be interested. Here are some buttons that might help—but feel free to share in any way that works for you.
What kind of feedback?
Here’s how I approach the process of editing or providing mentorship for a poem:
Gentle interrogation: I ask questions about the poet’s intentions, hopes, and frustrations with respect to many aspects of the poem including audience, mood, message, content, form, and style.
Suggestions: Based on the poet’s answers to my questions, I'll go through the poem and provide specific, tailored suggestions for how to meet their goals and intentions, on the macro- and micro-levels—the overall form and flow of the work, the roles of individual words, and everything in between.
Encouragement: I’ll highlight the many aspects that are powerful and unique. I may also suggest poets and poems that could be inspiring and relevant.
When you send me your poem, please be sure to include a note that addresses some or all of these questions:
What do you love about this poem?
Are there any parts that you feel don’t meet your needs or hopes?
What is the essential message you're trying to send, or the central idea you're trying to express?
Which (if any) poets, writers, artists, musicians or aspects of life are informing or influencing your work right now?
Who (if anyone) did you write this poem for? (i.e. yourself; close friends and family; the literary world)
I’ll respond within one month.
Send it to: lullabiesalarms@gmail.com
Thank you all!
~ Elisabeth