The Johann Fust Library Foundation in collaboration with The Live Poets Society of Boca Grande, presents a poetry class and workshop.
In this generative workshop using the concept of personal mythology, Susan will guide participants through writing exercises designed to open new doors and windows to the creative process.
Suitable for both established poets and all would-be writers who are poetry-curious, these segmented prompts will allow you to explore unique ways of thinking about and expressing the riches of material already within each of us.
The exercises will be diverse in subject and texture, accompanied by examples and short discussion, then writing! Participants will leave this well-spent Saturday with drafts of promising new pieces. Easing off the pressure of editing or perfectionism, Susan will set the tone for free and exploratory work. As Robert Frost sagely said, “Like a piece of ice on a hot stove, a poem must ride on its own melting.”
The fee for the class and workshop is $150, which includes a continental breakfast and a catered box lunch. Class size is limited, and advance registration is required.
Susan Lilley: Poet & Professor
Susan Lilley is a Florida native, writer, teacher, and wanderer. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review , The Southern Review , Gulf Coast , Drunken Boat , and many other print and online journals.
She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine. She has traveled joyfully through four wonderful decades of teaching literature and writing at Trinity Preparatory School, Rollins College, and the University of Central Florida, as well as stints as a visiting writer conducting workshops in both university and community settings. She also served as the Poet Laureate of Orlando from 2017 to 2021.
She is a Rita Dove Poetry Award winner and has received a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship. She has also been a fellow for residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Vermont Studio Center.
Her collection Venus in Retrograde (Burrow Press) appeared in 2019, and she is working on her next book along with some collaborative projects, including a libretto based on Irish legend for a new piece of music for orchestra and voices to debut in the Fall of 2024.
