Living Room Craft Talks
The Art of Revision
with Ellen Bass
A Self-Guided Online Series
“Whenever I remake a song . . . it is myself that I remake.” —W. B. Yeats
You don’t need a body of work that you want to revise to start learning about revision. Revision is not a separate entity, but an extension of the original writing process. There’s no clear divide between writing and revision. It’s all writing!
As we study the art of revision, I’ll be talking about the many aspects of the craft that will help you write stronger first drafts. So wherever you are—from beginner to very experienced—these talks will help you develop the skills you need to take a leap forward in your poetry.
You do not need to have taken the Living Room Craft Talk series previously offered to take this series.
Highlights
- 12+ Total Hours of Talks
- 200+ PDF Pages of Poem Revisions, Many Never Before Seen and By Some of Today’s Finest Poets
- Revision Exercises
- PDF Resource Guides and Book Lists
- 90 Days Viewing Time
- Optional: Download and Watch Offline
From Past Students
Diving into Ellen’s Living Room Craft Talk Series has been incredibly nourishing. Living in India, I am ecstatic that I can learn from her knowledge, wisdom, and perception which she offers with great clarity. The series has helped me examine my poetic process and given me fresh insight in ways I wasn’t expecting, given the online medium. I would highly recommend this series with Ellen to anyone who feeds on poetry.
Ellen Bass is a master poet, a generous teacher, and a woman who brings appreciation and respect into the classroom. I left each class with a palette of color, new brushstokes to practice, and a yearning to play with poetry. I’m enriched by studying with her.
I am an experienced poet who never gets tired of learning about poetry, especially from someone whose work I love. Classes with Ellen Bass feel like a cross between attending an intimate seminar with a revered, approachable teacher and hanging out in the living room of a great poetry friend. No matter where you are now, you’ll think differently about reading and writing poems after you’ve spent time with Ellen.
Ellen Bass’s Living Room Craft Talks are a welcome infusion of poetic craft into my week. I so appreciate Ellen’s abundant generosity and wisdom, her knowledge of craft, her sense of humor, and her willingness to share with and support other writers. Having these talks online and recorded make them available to so many more people than they could reach in person, but they still feel intimate and personal. Working with Ellen is always fruitful and pleasurable. I plan to sign up for every series she offers!
Ellen brings a serious intellect and a warm sensibility to her virtual classroom. I never felt bored or unengaged, and I felt that I learned much through her thoughtful lectures, careful readings, and willingness to address questions along the way. I would highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to improve their own poetry or read poetry more meaningfully for themselves.
Not only is Ellen Bass an extraordinary poet, but she is also a wonderful teacher too. Ellen Is very knowledgeable and goes into great detail on each subject, provides excellent examples in her poetry packets and is very open to and patient in responding to participants’ questions. Even though I have an MFA in poetry, I have learned a great deal with each craft talk. As a former teacher myself, I am always delighted by a teacher who is clear, kind, patient and passionate about the subject. Ellen Bass has all of the traits of an excellent teacher. Thank you, Ellen!
Ellen’s lectures are clear, well paced, very well prepared and informative. She is warm and mindful of teaching students who have varied levels of skills. I have taken what I learned after each time we have met and applied it to my work.
Ellen is one of the best lectures of our time on the craft of writing poetry. She has the ability to break apart what makes a great poem and she goes through numerous examples to help you see multiple aspects of the topic she is conveying. Her teachings can be immediately put into practice and will inspire and empower you in your work as a poet.
I took two poetry seminars in graduate school . . . and I’ve learned so much more here in Ellen’s workshop than in either of them. She is one of the finest teachers and her love for poetry, her humility and wisdom, are themselves an inspiration, not to mention her very own beautiful poems . . . .
I have attended numerous poetry workshops over the past 35 years and this is one of the best. The pace is refreshingly quick and challenging, and the information relevant for advanced as well as beginning poets. I highly recommend this class!
Ellen’s teaching in the Living Room Craft Talk series blended clarity and specificity about writing technique with a permitting and encouraging attitude toward her audience of writers and readers. She offers close readings of poems, her own and others, addressing both content and writing strategy; she discusses the art and craft of writing with nuance, complexity, and accessibility. Her conversational style and kind presence allow for a surprising degree of connection in the context of a video conference format. Thank you, Ellen, for very welcome inspiration.
Many poets have the experience of generating a first draft that has a lot of vitality, a lot of potential. Though you’re pleased with your promising start, you’re not sure how to take it from that early draft to a finished poem that is as strong as you can possibly make it. Or, you may have a first draft that you’re not that excited about. And yet you sense there’s a poem lurking in there, but don’t quite know how to lure it out. Or, you may have a poem that you’ve taken through numerous drafts and it’s coming along well, but you don’t feel confident about the final decisions: should I keep this line or take it out? is this image strange and wonderful or is it just strange? did I say too much or not quite enough? what is the heart of this poem? And on and on! And, the overarching concerns: how am I making these decisions? what questions do I ask myself? what questions do I ask the poem?
Revision is not only a challenge to improve an early draft of a poem, it’s a sincere exploration, an active search for personal transformation. The self is in dialogue with the self. Similar to the way in which we are transformed in relationship with another person, we have the potential to be transformed in relationship to the poem. And we have the opportunity to do that through the craft.
These talks are very practical, offering strategies that you can apply to revising your own poems with more awareness.
Much of what I’ll be presenting in these talks will apply to fiction and non-fiction writers as well.
Schedule
During these craft talks, we’ll be studying the process of contemporary poets who have generously agreed to share their drafts, including drafts from Rick Barot, Traci Brimhall, Jericho Brown, Kwame Dawes, Toi Derricotte, Natalie Diaz, Frank X. Gaspar, Marie Howe, Alicia Ostriker, Barbara Ras, Anna Scotti, Tim Seibles, Patricia Smith, and Gary Young. I’ll also be sharing drafts of my own poems and including some inspiring work from my students.
Because the process of revision is organic and can’t be separated neatly into topics, each week emphasizes several aspects of revision, but also includes discussion of other aspects. Also, I talk about some elements in an introductory way in one week and then in more depth another week. And because I respond to questions, we sometimes circle back to discuss a poem or strategy that was presented in a previous week. That said, by the end of the series you’ll have had the opportunity to learn about most of the essentials.
Week 1
- An Overview of Revision
- Decluttering–Identifying What Is Not Needed
- Vivid and Essential Detail
- Precise Diction
- Getting to the Heart of the Poem
Week 2
- Expansion
- Discovery–The Voyage into the Unknown
- Complexity
- The Poem as Transformation
- Decluttering
Week 3
- Discernment
- Beginnings and Endings
- Metaphor
- Structure/Form
- Chronology
Week 4
- Lines and Stanzas
- Compression
- Endings
- Form
- Diction
- Image
- Form and Structure
Week 5
- Discovering What the Poem Is Really About
- Listening to What the Poem Is Trying to Tell You
- Titles
- Syntax
- Refine, Refine, Refine
Week 6
- When is Enough Enough?
- From Reportage to Poem
- Adding Music
- Enlarging the Scope of the Poem
- Digging Deeper into the Implications of a Poem
- Guidelines for Creating a Supportive Writing Workshop
Logistics for the Series
Technical Format for the Series:
The Living Room Craft Talks: The Art of Revision were originally recorded as a Zoom craft talk series. Now, it is available as a self-guided, multimedia series that is available online through a participant-only portal on this website.
Your Registration Email:
The email address that you enter into the billing information on the following registration pages will be the email address that is sent your confirmation email. If you wish the series materials to be sent to a different email address than the one you use for billing, please email Jen at jen@ellenbass.com and provide her with the alternative email address.
While signing up for this talk series you will be asked to be added to Ellen’s email list (this is how all of the talk series information is sent). You are able to cancel your subscription to Ellen’s email list at any time, but please keep in mind that if you cancel your subscription before all of the talk series emails are sent you will not receive those final talk emails.
Emails About This Series and Your Registration:
Once your registration payment has been processed, you will be sent an automated email from jen@ellenbass.com confirming your spot in the series and giving you important information to access the series materials. If that email does not reach you within 1 hour, please check your spam, junk, promotions, or trash folders as the email could have been misdirected.
All emails about this series are sent automatically from jen@ellenbass.com. To make sure that you receive those emails, which include a confirmation with details on how to access the series materials, please add jen@ellenbass.com to your contact list before you register. Not sure how? Click the button below.
Registration Options
Please read through the details for each of the registration options so that you are clear about the differences between them.
If you have questions about the Downloadable Edition and whether your device will be able to download the talks, please read the Downloading Tips and FAQs.
Full and partial scholarships available for BIPOC writers and individuals with financial need for Standard Access only. If the price is a hardship, please email Jen at jen@ellenbass.com and tell us in 2-3 sentences what your circumstances are and what, if anything, you could pay.
Questions and Concerns:
If you have any questions or concerns, please email Jen at jen@ellenbass.com.
Cancellations and Refunds:
If within 72 hours of purchasing the Downloadable Edition you find that you cannot download the craft talks, contact Jen and she can move your registration to the Extended Access option and refund you the difference. No other refunds are offered.