In this generative workshop, we will be writing and revising poems of delight, celebration, and grief, paying special attention to tone of voice. Tone is often defined as an author’s attitude toward her subject, but tone is also content. It is the implicit invitation to feel with the author, to enter the head and heart of the poet to see how and what he sees. What exactly makes a poem express gladness or sorrow? How does imagery, for example, affect tone—or diction? By comparing a variety of odes, aubades, and elegies, we will explore the various elements that establish and sustain tone of voice. This will allow each of us to enter our own work with a clearer sense of what is required to say the things essential to a reader’s full understanding.
Tim Seibles is the author of several poetry collections including Hurdy-Gurdy, Hammerlock, Buffalo Head Solos, and Fast Animal, which was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award and winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize. Tim is a former NEA fellow and recipient of a fellowship from the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. His latest collection, One Turn Around the Sun, was released in 2017. He recently completed a two-year appointment as Poet laureate of Virginia.
View poet's page
