Image credit: unsplash.com/@eugenechystiakov
Spend an afternoon writing some new poems or short prose with Murfreesboro’s 2023 Poet Laureate, Mike James. This interactive 3-hour workshop, free to RAA members or with your new RAA membership, begins with the idea that imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery—it’s also one of the key sources of inspiration!
About the workshop
Throughout history, works of literature have often played off of one another. As Kenneth Burke famously pointed out, writing is an endless conversation. In this workshop, we will use poems by famous and not-quite-famous poets to serve as catalysts for brand new poems. Participants will be encouraged to go in new directions and chase their images into any dark or well-lit corner. The only necessities are writing utensils, an open mind, and an active imagination.
About our workshop leader
Image courtesy Mike James
Mike James makes his home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He has published in hundreds of magazines, large and small, and has performed his poetry at universities and other venues throughout the country. He has been nominated for multiple Pushcarts, as well as for the Paterson Poetry Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His many poetry collections include: Leftover Distances (Luchador), Parades (Alien Buddha), Jumping Drawbridges in Technicolor (Blue Horse), Crows in the Jukebox (Bottom Dog), and Portable Light: Poems 1991-2021 (Redhawk.) In February 2023 he was named the fourth Poet Laureate of Murfreesboro. His newest collection, Back Alley Saints at the Tiki Bar, is recently out from Redhawk Publications.
Wait, there’s more! Bring your lunch and join us early for an open mic
We’re partnering with Poetry in the Boro to offer an hour of open mic before the workshop. Bring your lunch, if you like, and plan to share 1 or 2 poems, 4 minutes max. Sharing short prose or a favorite poem by another author is fine, too! Doors open at 11:30 and we’ll start the open mic about 11:45—but join us anytime you can.
About the venue and parking
The workshop—and the open mic at lunchtime—will be held in Room 112 of the Academic Classroom Building (ACB) on the MTSU campus.
The easiest way to find the building and park behind it is to use this Google map to navigate there. The “pin” in the map will take you to the back entrance to the building, off of MTSU Blvd. You can simply pull forward from there into the adjacent parking lot. Handicap spaces are also nearby this entrance.
If the Google map doesn’t work for you, consider that approaching from Greenland Drive to Blue Raider Drive, then to the “Academic Lot,” as indicated on this map, may be easiest. You will be in front of the building and have to walk a bit further.
To register
The workshop is free to current RAA members or $25 for nonmembers, which includes your RAA membership for a year!
If you’re not already a member, or need to renew, you can do that here on our site.
Then register for the workshop by filling out this Google form.
What to bring
Paper and pencils or pens!
