About the Workshop

Teachers of creative writing talk a lot about “finding” your voice, as if it’s lost and waiting to be rescued. But what if your voice is something you’ve already got but don’t know how to attentively nurture into a full song? In this writing-intensive generative workshop we will learn the twists and turns of our own unique voices, as well as how to milk their individual strengths and make them work harder for us on the page. During our week together, we will read, discuss, and write towards notions of self-invention and individuality, including revision as a vocal honing tool and workshop as a zone for voice recognition rather than surrender. Our goal is to finish out the week with a bevy of new poem drafts as well as a greater sense of knowledge and security surrounding the voice that is our own particular tool of magic on the page.

About the Instructor

Keetje Kuipers' fourth collection of poetry, Lonely Women Make Good Lovers, was the recipient of the Isabella Gardner Award. Her poetry and prose have appeared in American Poetry Review, New York Times Magazine, and Poetry, and have been honored by publication in the Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies. Keetje has been a Stegner Fellow, NEA Literature Fellow in Creative Writing, and the Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writing Resident. Previously a VP on the board of the National Book Critics Circle, Keetje is currently Editor of Poetry Northwest. She lives with her wife and children in Montana, where she co-directs the Headwaters Reading Series for Health & Well-Being.