The Poem's Interior Landscape

How do the landscapes we've lived in shape the way we think, feel, and create? In Crossing Open Ground, Barry Lopez suggests that “the shape of the individual mind is affected by land as it is by genes.” There is a profound connection between our inner lives and the physical spaces we inhabit.

     In this generative workshop, we will consider the ways the physical world influences our interior landscapes, and how those interior landscapes, in turn, might shape our poems. 

     Through guided prompts, reflective discussion, and close readings of place-inspired poems, you’ll learn to translate your experiences of land — whether wide-open spaces, urban corners, or intimate settings — into vivid, textured poetry.

​

JESSICA POLI is the author of Red Ocher (University of Arkansas Press), which was a finalist for the 2023 Miller Williams Prize. Her work has appeared in Best New Poets, North American Review,…