Poetry of Observation: Starting and Keeping a Commonplace Book

There is a long tradition of poets, writers, and philosophers keeping commonplace books—a practice that involves writing down lines and quotations from other authors for future reference. The idea is to have a designated physical place to archive anything you come across that piques your interest in the hope that you might return to these bits of information to create something new.

This four-week poetry class will focus on the practice of keeping a commonplace book and how that practice can lead to a more generative poetic life. The modern commonplace book has the potential to be expansive—archiving points of interest from all kinds of media and entertainment we consume. In a time where our consumption of media often outweighs our creative output, this class will encourage people to seek a balancing of the scales in their own lives. What if we are all interacting with the world with the notion that we might make a poem out of anything?

Each two-hour class will include readings from poets writing in the tradition of observation, round table discussions on what things we are inspired to record in our commonplace books, and brainstorming sessions on how we can turn these observations into poetry. There will be opportunity to workshop at least one poem with the group. Ideally, you will come away from this class with a lifelong habit and creative companion—the commonplace book you create here.

Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.