A New Class from Tom Daley

Here is another class being taught by my friend, Tom.



Preparing Poems for Publication in Journals and Magazines (November-December 2009)

A six-week workshop at the Online School of Poetry led by Tom Daley
http://onlineschoolofpoetry.org/TomDaleyWorkshop.html

Most poets write poems to communicate thoughts, feelings, observations, anecdotes, or opinions. Some poets are content to limit their audience to a small circle of family or friends, but many seek a broader audience. While the kinds of venues open to poets are expanding (open mikes, blogs, online bulletin boards, social networks, etc.), the journal and the magazine, whether in print or online, retain their importance as vehicles of expression for poets serious about their craft.

This workshop is designed to help you fine-tune poems so that they are in the best possible shape for submission to journals and magazines, particularly those with a mission of publishing quality writing. In addition, strategies for submission, including timing, networking, writing a cover letter, selecting the best group of poems, observing protocols, and choosing the appropriate journals for your poems will be presented and discussed.

In the six-week session, you will post a poem each week for Weeks One through Five and then a revision of that poem the next week, both of which will receive comments from the instructor and other participants. Optional exercises in revision will be provided as well. Upon completion of all the assignments, each participant who would like advice on publication will receive suggestions from the instructor for possible placement of a group of each participant’s poems.

Note to teachers interested in professional development courses: This workshop provides an opportunity for teachers of writing to hone their teaching skills in the field of poetry writing in general and revision of poems in particular. Upon completion of the workshop, the Online School of Poetry will provide a letter certifying that you have fulfilled the requirements of the workshop.

To be considered for the workshop, new applicants should send a group three poems to the instructor at tom@onlineschoolofpoetry.org no later than November 1, 2009.

November 8-December 20, 2009
Cost: $250
(includes a ten dollar registration fee)

About the instructor:

In addition to his post at the Online School of Poetry, Tom Daley tutors beginning and experienced poets in person and by correspondence and teaches poetry writing at the Boston Center for Adult Education in Boston, Massachusetts and poetry and memoir writing at Lexington (MA) Community Education. He is a member of the tutorial faculty of Walnut Hill School for the Arts (Elizabeth Bishop’s alma mater).

He has been a guest instructor in ekphrastic writing at Brown University and in poetry writing and performance at Stonehill College and SUNY Cobleskill. Tom has led poetry writing workshops and classes at the Writers In the Round annual retreat for songwriters and poets on Star Island (Rye, New Hampshire) and workshops in the creative process at the Nantucket Atheneum.

Tom Daley’s poetry is forthcoming or has been published in numerous journals, including Harvard Review, Barrow Street, Prairie Schooner, Vox, Diagram, 32 Poems, Archipelago, Perihelion, Poetry Ireland Review, Southern Humanities Review and Hacks: The Grub Street Anthology. His manuscript, Shim, was a semi-finalist for the 2004 Bakeless Prize and a finalist for the 2005 Emily Dickinson First Book Prize offered by The Poetry Foundation. He graduated with highest honors in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina, where he won the Charles and Fanny Fay Wood Academy of American Poets Prize.

Here is a testimonial from a participant in a recent workshop led by Tom Daley:

"The workshop has gotten me back on track with writing poetry and given me new confidence. Your assignments have been so interesting and provocative that they've put me back in the zone where I don't question the value of writing, but just relish doing it and long for more time to do it. The background material and examples are incredibly useful and helped to tune up my ear. I was moved by getting [poems picked out for each participant from established writers] each time. That you would put in this effort made me feel worthy, and sent me reading those poems to look for connections to my own writing. That was a real gift from you. Your own critiques are thoughtful and often bring up points that others don't see or raise. You focus a lot on the language. It's by far the best workshop I've had. I appreciate the great effort you put into it."

Tom Daley is also available for one-on-one tutorials in both poetry and memoir writing and for editing manuscripts in both genres. If you are interested, please contact him at tom.daley2@verizon.net.