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Intensive workshops

Beyond Baroque’s intensive writing workshops allow writers from all schools and walks of life to learn from world-class authors in single and multi-session workshops.

Wait, What? Workshop with Brendan Constantine Saturday, September 21, 2024 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM PT In Person at Beyond Baroque Do you struggle finding a moment to write? Have trouble concentrating when you finally get the time? Brendan Constantine presents ‘Wait, what?’, a generative workshop for poets who are easily distracted. If you’ve ever struggled with writer’s block, this is the workshop for you. In addition to writing new work, participants will examine what it means to be distracted and to be at the mercy of ‘avid attention.’ You may discover that it is your greatest asset as a poet and an artist. No experience necessary. Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in many standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, and Poem a Day. He currently teaches at The Windward School and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Since 2017, he has also been developing workshops for writers living with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). His fifth collection, ‘The Opposites Game,’ is due out from Red Hen Press in 2026.

Learning How to Write a Ghazal from the American Blues Saturday, October 19, 2024 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM PT In Person at Beyond Baroque In this workshop, we will learn about the ghazal, the premier short form of poetry in the Middle East and South Asia. We will use a familiar American musical genre as a doorway to open into this great form of poetry: the blues. As it turns out, the American blues and the ghazal share a number of key thematic and structural elements that will help you to write a successful ghazal in English. For musical folk, learning to write the ghazal will make you a better blues writer as well! We will take a look at some terrific American ghazals by Aga Shahid Ali, Roger Sederat, and Patricia Smith. We will also listen to and discuss several blues songs. Lastly, we’ll have a guided writing session and round of sharing our work. Tony Barnstone teaches at Whittier College and is the author of 23 books and a music CD. His new book of poems is Apocryphal Poems (Nirala Press, 2024). His other books of poetry include Pulp Sonnets; Beast in the Apartment; Buda en Llamas: Antología poética(bilingual); Tongue of War: From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki; The Golem of Los Angeles; Sad Jazz: Sonnets; and Impure. He is also a translator or co-translator of world literature, primarily Chinese but also Spanish and Urdu.

Critique Workshop with Dorianne Laux and Kim Addonizio Saturday, November 23, 2024 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM PT In Person at Beyond Baroque Bring a draft of a poem-in-progress (under 2 pages), with copies for all (14 total) for close reading from Kim and Dorianne. We’ll discuss elements like clarity, structure, line, image, and other aspects of craft, talk about what we value in poems, and give you specific ideas about revising your work.lues songs. Lastly, we’ll have a guided writing session and round of sharing our work. Kim Addonizio is the author of over a dozen books of poetry and prose. Exit Opera is just out from W.W. Norton (September 2024). Other books include Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within, also from Norton; and a memoir-in-essays, Bukowski in a Sundress, (Penguin).Addonizio’s work has been honored with fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation, among others, and her work has been translated into several languages. Her collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. She lives in Oakland, CA and teaches poetry workshops on Zoom. Pulitzer Prize finalist Dorianne Laux’s most recent collection is Life on Earth. She is also author of Only As The Day Is Long: New and Selected, The Book of Men, winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize and Facts about the Moon, winner of the Oregon Book Award, all from W.W. Norton, and recently released a handbook, Finger Exercises for Poetry. She teaches poetry at Pacific University’s low residency MFA Program. Laux is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.