Political Poetry Workshop with Former Door County Poet Laureate

Does your New Year’s resolution include devoting more time to writing? Perhaps you vowed to become more politically aware or to try something new for 2018? Write On, Door County can help you make good on your resolution with “Writing Political Poetry,” a special day-long class led by former Door County Poet Laureate Estella Lauter. The class will be held Jan. 13, 9 am – 4 pm, at Write On’s property in Juddville.

“In this period of awakened political consciousness, it is not surprising that political poetry is coming back into the writer’s repertoire because it allows a more immediate response to events than longer forms,” said Lauter. “This workshop will explore a wide variety of examples drawn from different eras and circumstances as we experiment with our own writing – enjoying the opportunity to rant as well as to craft poems that may have a life in print. We will divide our time among activities of free-writing, reading and discussing published poems to open up possibilities for ourselves, and revising what we have written. Our goal will be to understand ‘what works’ for us in this genre of poetry.”

Lauter has been writing political poetry for many years. One of those poems won the 2009 Barbara Mandigo Kelley Peace Poetry Contest and others appear in three chapbooks published with Finishing Line Press. However, she sees herself as an explorer rather than an expert on the subject of political poetry. She is Professor Emerita from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh after a long teaching career in the UW system. She lives with her husband on 31 acres of woodland in Door County where she does whatever she can to promote peace and justice. She served as Door County Poet Laureate 2013-2015.

Tuition is $95, including lunch. The class is offered free to Door County educators and financial assistance is available to others. For more information visit writeondoorcounty.org.