What in the heck is going on in America? And what can I do to begin to envision a better world? There is perhaps no better way to investigate these questions than to write about them through the form of the American sonnet. The American sonnet is a looser, more musical and inventive variation than its traditional counterpart. Having no required rhyme scheme or specific meter, the poet has freedom to innovate their own constraints within 14 lines. We will compose anywhere between one and three sonnets.

This workshop will be taught by Diane Raptosh, whose collection American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press), was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award in poetry. A native Idahoan and the recipient of three fellowships in literature from the Idaho Commission on the Arts, she served as the Boise Poet Laureate (2013) as well as the Idaho Writer-in-Residence (2013-2016). In 2018 she won the Idaho Governor’s Arts Award in Excellence. She teaches literature and creative writing and co-directs the program in Criminal Justice/Prison Studies at the College of Idaho. Her seventh collection, Run: A Verse-History of Victoria Woodhull, was published by Etruscan 2021. Her newest chapbook, Hand Signs from Eternity’s Yurt, was published in June 2022 (Kelsay Books).

Registration is required, as space is limited for this workshop.