Poets Studio at the Attic Institute

Pour the poet into the art and the art into the poet.

Poets Studio is based on the idea that focusing on goals is the key to lasting growth as a poet. Poets Studio is a weekly workshop that runs for 24 sessionms. It is designed to give form and focus to your poetry writing. The Poets Studio is open to applications from all poets (see application information below). Poets join the Poets Studio either as members or as auditors and attend for the entire session. This creates the Poets Studio's special experience: a steady, supportive, and comprehensive study of your poetry among other poets.

Modeled after the famed Actors Studio (whose members included Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro, Norman Mailer, Eli Wallach, Sidney Poitier, Edward Albee, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean), the Attic Institute's Poets Studio provides a private place for poets to work together in the development, experimentation, and completion of new poems and sequences of poems.

The philosophy of the Poets Studio: A poet's lifetime of experiences is the basis to develop poetic art, method, and practice— culminating in the creation, revision, and publication of new poetry. This approach to writing poems invites a wonderful sense of accountability, and it teaches you to experiment and learn more about your subjects, your style, and your capacity for growth as a poet in a highly supportive and focused atmosphere.

Becoming a member of the Poets Studio: The Poets Studio is open to all poets. All new members receive David's private reading list called "The First One-Fifty," which is comprised of 150 poems from anonymous to Auden that all poets in the studio are asked to read, culled from the Norton Anthology of Poetry. By joining the Poets Studio, poets confirm that writing and publishing poetry is a practice that calls for extended and sustained study. To apply to join the next Poets Studio, please send ten (10) pages of poems and a 250 words "Statement of Goals" to the Attic Institute.

Deadline to apply is September 1 for the 2021-2022 Poets Studio. APPLY NOW

Weekly Studio: A core group of poets makes up the members of the studio and meets weekly. Each assembly includes close readings of works-in-progress, discussion of poetic forms and theories in poetry, assessments of the role of poetry in culture and society, and a full engagement of the scope of contemporary and canonical poetry in English and translation. Each assembly has a special structure. The assembly begins with the recitation of a single published poem followed by discussion. Then, there is the presentation, close-reading, and critique of members' works-in-progress. Some sessions an intimately-directed experimentation and prompt writing session to generate new writing. There are periodic "book group" readings and periodic assignments, too. Finally, the assembly concludes with a recitation of a poem from the traditional canon in English and American poetry, or in translation, in order to invite the entire history of poetry into the Poets Studio.

Registration: Early registration for the 2021-2022 Poets Studio (24 weeks) is $1380 ($1422 via PayPal). Installment payment option available for accepted writers: Two payments of $725 each (50% of $1380 = $690 plus $35 Admin. Fee) due September 10 AND November 10. Installment payments made by credit card through PayPal will also include the PayPal fee, as well.

Led by influential poet and founder of the Attic Institute of Arts and Letters, David Biespiel, the Poets Studio is a special gathering focused entirely on creating, revising, and publishing new poetry.

To apply to join the next Poets Studio, please send ten (10) pages of poems and a 250 words "Statement of Goals" to the Attic Institute. The next deadline to apply is September 1. APPLY NOW

Poets Studio's meets Mondays, 5:30-8pm (rescheduled and make-up sessions take place on Sundays, 2-4:30pm).

Each year there are spring sessions and summer sessions of Poets Studio.

NOTE: For now, the plan is: To protect everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, Poets Studio will begin the 2021-2022 session via Zoom—though with lifting of some restrictions, we may be able to meet, at least in some introductory capacity at the beginning. All students must first sign up for a free Zoom account. Setting it up is easy. And we can help you with questions, if needed. For each class, you'll receive a Zoom "invitation," from the instructor. Click the link...follow the simple directions about the settings for your microphone and in-computer video, and you're immediately in the "room" for the workshop. For critique workshops, instructors will communicate with students about the process of sharing work. For more generative workshops, students will be writing together while on Zoom.

2021-2022 Schedule of Classes

Dates subject to change.

All classes are made-up on Sundays, 2-4:30pm

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24 sessions: Sep 13, 2021 - Mar 14, 2022:

Sep 13: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Sep 20: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Sep 27: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Oct 4: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Oct 11: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Oct 18: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Oct 25: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Nov 1: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Nov 8: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Nov 15: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Nov 22: Break: No Studio

Nov 29: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Dec 6: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Dec 13: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Dec 20: Break: No Studio

Dec 27: Break: No Studio

Jan 3: Break: No Studio

Jan 10: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Jan 17: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Jan 24: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Jan 31: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Feb 6: Studio, 2-4:30pm (Sunday)

Feb 7: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Feb 14: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Feb 21: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Feb 28: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Mar 7: Studio, 5:30-8pm

Mar 14: Studio, 5:30-8pm

The Attic Experience

"Participating in the Fridays on the Boulevard open mic helps me to understand my own work, it connects me with other writers, and it gives me a chance to practice reading my work for an attentive audience. Because of the feedback I have received from an audience of fellow writers, I have learned further how to revise my work. In turn, this knowledge gives me the confidence to submit my newly revised work to national publications. Because of the feedback I have recently received from participating in Fridays on the Boulevard, I am pleased to announce that my work will be published in the 2015 issue of NOON Annual! Fridays on the Boulevard is a great gift to Portland area writers!"

Erin Osborne

The Classic Book for Writers, Updated and Revised

EVERY WRITER HAS A THOUSAND FACES

"This book has been in print forever because what it offers works for people." — Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club

"Finally, an anti-bullsht book on creativity!"* — James Marcus, former editor of Harper's

"Does for the creative process what Strunk and White did for our approach to grammar and style. Indispensible." — Marjorie Sandor, National Jewish Book Award winner

"Buoyant...unorthodox...A provocative and anti-intuitive manual for making fresh art." — Kirkus Review

"Biespiel offers a number of best practices—not just for writing...but for living a creative life." — The Rumpus

Faculty

A Statement of Our Values

The Attic Institute of Arts and Letters opposes the legitimation of bigotry, hate, and misinformation in today's cultural and political environment. As a studio for writers, we do not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind. We condemn all acts of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia. We embrace and celebrate our shared pursuit of literature and language as essential to crossing the boundaries of difference. To that end, we seek to maintain a creative environment in which every employee, faculty member, and student feels safe, respected, and comfortable. We accept the workshop as a place to question ourselves and to empathize with diverse identities. We understand that to know the world is to write a better world. Therefore, we reaffirm our commitment to literary pursuits and shared understanding by affirming social justice, diversity, and open inquiry.

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