This workshop is not yet open for registration. Registration will open in the New Year and the announcement will go out to Ellen’s email list when it does. To be notified and to join Ellen’s email list, if you are not already on it, you can sign up here.
Jubilee and Wild
A Poetry Workshop
with Nikky Finney & Ellen Bass
March 17 – 21, 2025
Online via Zoom
I’m delighted to be co-teaching this writing workshop with Nikky Finney whose poetry I’ve been admiring, studying, and teaching for many years.
When asked what was the most valuable advice she received as a young writer, Nikky said: “The great American writer John Oliver Killens told me when I was 18 that ‘writing was like sitting in the saddle of a good race horse. The rider’s (writer’s) job was to hold on tight to the reins and not get out of that seat, no matter how bumpy the ride, no matter how glorious, not until the ride was absolutely over, the horse exhausted and trotting back to her stall.’”
In this workshop, that’s exactly what we’re going to do! And we hope you’ll join us as we work to craft poems that combine vivid and compelling detail with complex thought to create work that is powerful, authentic, courageous and memorable. Through this process you will find yourself writing poems you didn’t know you could write.
We will take risks, summoning the courage to go over, under or around the censors that silence us. We’ll approach our experience from new angles to find the poem within the story. We’ll question the stories we think are true and explore the power of not-knowing and discovery. We will write poems, share our writing, and hear what our work touches in others. We’ll also read model poems by contemporary poets and discuss aspects of the craft. But mainly this will be a writing retreat—time to explore and create in a supportive community. Though the focus is on poetry, prose writers who want to enrich their language will find it a fertile environment.
The workshop is limited to 28 participants.
The Structure of the Workshop
Although this workshop is appropriate for beginning poets, with much support and encouragement offered, it is also recommended for experienced poets, including those who have published books or chapbooks, are teaching poetry, or have simply been working at the craft for a long time.
This is a participatory workshop, so you will be expected to attend all of the sessions. The workshop is not recorded.
This workshop is oriented toward generating new work. We’ll start each day with a talk about some aspect of the craft of writing.
Then there will be time devoted to writing. Unlike workshops where there are multiple short writing prompts, we prefer to schedule longer writing sessions so that there’s time to go deeply into your writing. You may not be actually writing that entire time, but there’s space for writing, reflection, starting off on a whole new topic, maybe taking a short break to refresh yourself and begin again.
Then we’ll meet to share our work. For these sessions, we’ll divide into smaller groups, one led by each teacher (you’ll have the opportunity to work with both teachers in the small groups). Everyone will have a chance to read and to receive responses, encouragement, and support.
On the final night, there will be a poetry reading by each of the participants.
Logistics
Cost: $1900
Workshop Participant Number: Maximum of 28
Workshop Format: This workshop will be held online through Zoom. Handouts for the workshop will be sent by email in advance of the Zoom sessions. The workshop is not recorded, so participants are expected to attend all of the Zoom sessions.
Scholarships for Black Poets
We are offering two full scholarships for the workshop to poets who identify as Black. Unfortunately, we can’t offer every deserving applicant a scholarship, but if you’d like to apply, please send two poems in a Word document or the body of an email. Applications are judged blind, so please do not include your name in the document. But please do give Jen your name, so she knows who you are! Send the poems to Jen at jen@ellenbass.com by January 31, 2025. With your submission, you must indicate which scholarship you are applying for. In this case, say that it is for “Jubilee and Wild”. We have multiple scholarships running at once, so any submissions that do not indicate the scholarship applied for will not be considered.
If you have already attended an online workshop on scholarship within the last two years (this does NOT include the Living Room Craft Talks), you are not eligible to apply for this workshop.
Retreat Schedule
Monday, March 17, 2025
Introductory Session: 2 – 4 pm Pacific Time/5 – 7 pm Eastern Time
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Craft Talk: 9 am – 10 am Pacific Time/ 12 – 1 pm Eastern Time
Feedback Session: 2 – 5 pm Pacific Time / 5 – 8 pm Eastern Time
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Craft Talk: 9 am – 10 am Pacific Time/ 12 – 1 pm Eastern Time
Feedback Session: 2 – 5 pm Pacific Time / 5 – 8 pm Eastern Time
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Craft Talk: 9 – 10 am Pacific Time/ 12 – 1 pm Eastern Time
Feedback Session: 2 – 5 pm Pacific Time / 5 – 8 pm Eastern Time
Friday, March 21, 2025 – Please Note the Time Shifts This Day
Craft Talk: 8 – 9 am Pacific Time/ 11 am – 12 pm Eastern Time
Feedback Session: 1 – 4 pm Pacific Time / 4 – 7 pm Eastern Time
Participant Poetry Reading: 5:30 – 6:30 pm Pacific Time / 8:30 – 9:30 pm Eastern Time
This retreat is NOT recorded, so participants should plan to attend all of the sessions.
TO REGISTER
Registration is a 2-part process. Part one is making your payment and part two is filling out a short form. Registration is not complete until both parts are completed, though completing your payment does secure your spot in the workshop.
Payment:
Full payment of the $1900 fee is due with registration. You have the option to pay by credit card or PayPal.
Cancellations and Refunds:
If you find that you cannot attend the workshop, let Jen know as soon as possible and she’ll try to fill your space. If she can fill your space, she’ll refund your payment, minus a $350 administrative fee which is non-refundable. The sooner you let us know, the more likely that we can fill your space.
Questions and Concerns:
If you have any questions or concerns, please email Jen at jen@ellenbass.com.
This workshop is not yet open for registration. Registration will open in the New Year and the announcement will go out to Ellen’s email list when it does. To be notified and to join Ellen’s email list, if you are not already on it, you can sign up here.
NIKKY FINNEY is the author of On Wings Made of Gauze; Rice; The World Is Round; and Head Off & Split, which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011. Her new collection of poems, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry, was released in 2020. Finney is Carolina Distinguished Professor at USC in Columbia where she is also Director of the Ernest A. Finney Jr. Cultural Arts Center.
ELLEN BASS is the author of Indigo, Like a Beggar, The Human Line, and Mules of Love. Among her awards are Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and The California Arts Council, The Lambda Literary Award, and four Pushcart Prizes. A Chancellor Emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Bass teaches in the MFA writing program at Pacific University.