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There are all sorts of reasons the poems stop coming — low confidence, no ideas, no time, the nagging sense that whatever you write won't be good enough. The reasons differ, but the feeling is the same: here's this thing you long to do, and you can't.
I know that feeling well. I've been blocked many times over the years — and each time, I've found my way back to the page. Along the way I've learned a great deal about what shuts creativity down, and what opens it up again.
We'll work at it from three complementary directions:
The inner block. Every block is partly emotional, and pretending otherwise keeps you stuck. Each week we'll explore a gentle, practical tool for loosening the mental and emotional knots that stop you writing. It's not therapy — just accessible ways to set down some old limitations and free up your confidence.
The words themselves. I'll give you simple, unthreatening exercises to get you playing with language again. Insight alone will have you going round in circles forever; in the end, the only cure for not writing is writing — and these gentle tasks will get you doing it.
Your wider creative life. Low-bar homework between sessions will help you make room for creativity again, and steer you back toward the poems and projects that matter most to you.
“I really enjoyed the Blocked Poets Workshop and learned a ton. It's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for all the time and thoughtfulness you put into it." — Susan H.
This is the third time I've run this group, and places are again limited to 12 — so everyone has room to share and be heard.
The group meets on Zoom four times. Sessions are recorded, so you won't lose your place if you miss one — but you'll get the most from the course if you can join us live.
Not for you, but for a poet in your life? It makes a thoughtful gift. One of our poets last time joined as a present from his wife, who wrote to me afterward: “He had a wonderful time — it's one of the best gifts I've given him.”
There are all sorts of reasons the poems stop coming — low confidence, no ideas, no time, the nagging sense that whatever you write won't be good enough. The reasons differ, but the feeling is the same: here's this thing you long to do, and you can't.
I know that feeling well. I've been blocked many times over the years — and each time, I've found my way back to the page. Along the way I've learned a great deal about what shuts creativity down, and what opens it up again.
We'll work at it from three complementary directions:
The inner block. Every block is partly emotional, and pretending otherwise keeps you stuck. Each week we'll explore a gentle, practical tool for loosening the mental and emotional knots that stop you writing. It's not therapy — just accessible ways to set down some old limitations and free up your confidence.
The words themselves. I'll give you simple, unthreatening exercises to get you playing with language again. Insight alone will have you going round in circles forever; in the end, the only cure for not writing is writing — and these gentle tasks will get you doing it.
Your wider creative life. Low-bar homework between sessions will help you make room for creativity again, and steer you back toward the poems and projects that matter most to you.
“I really enjoyed the Blocked Poets Workshop and learned a ton. It's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for all the time and thoughtfulness you put into it." — Susan H.
This is the third time I've run this group, and places are again limited to 12 — so everyone has room to share and be heard.
The group meets on Zoom four times. Sessions are recorded, so you won't lose your place if you miss one — but you'll get the most from the course if you can join us live.
Not for you, but for a poet in your life? It makes a thoughtful gift. One of our poets last time joined as a present from his wife, who wrote to me afterward: “He had a wonderful time — it's one of the best gifts I've given him.”