Copper Canyon Press poet Gary Copeland Lilley will be teaching as part of the 2011 Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, leading three separate workshops in the craft and art of poetry. Lilley’s classes take place on Tuesday, July 19; Thursday, July 21; and Saturday, July 23.

“The Poetry Woodshed”
The infamous woodshed: for storing the fuel to light the fire in your poems, a session for administering the discipline of poetics, or to practice on playing your literary instrument. The woodshed is a fast-paced poetry workshop to hone your revision drafts with other poets. The participants should bring copies of their draft poem to the session. Spare the analytical rod and you will spoil the poem. This workshop is suitable for poets of all levels.

“Getting Down with Diction”
An informal lecture/discussion examining some of the strategic choices poets make in using diction.  The arrangement, force, accuracy, and distinction of the spoken language give dimensions of culture, region, and social class to the poem. This informal class recognizes word usage as the means and manner of expressing ideas while it helps locate the reader into the terrain of the poem.
This workshop is suitable for poets of all levels.

“Writing the Persona Poem”
This workshop focuses on the writing of the persona poem. The poetic persona is the mask that poets use to reveal truths without standing on the soapbox. If you want to write the persona poem, or written one, this is the workshop to critique your efforts and examines the choices available in creating the aesthetic voice, the credible character speak that is the primary vehicle for the successful persona poem with others who find the form fascinating.