Late the Sweet Birds Sang: Generative Poetics for Writers in Mid-Life & Beyond
with Joan Kwon Glass
January 2, 2026
Length: 4 Weeks
Open to AllText and Live Video
Zoom calls Tuesdays 6:30-8:30PM Eastern
Original price was: $345.00.$295.00Current price is: $295.00.
Original price was: $345.00.$295.00Current price is: $295.00.Enroll Now
What does it mean to write our truths now that we’re in the second half of our lives? What have our years taught us, and what lessons are still unfolding? At mid-life and beyond, what poems are we most compelled to write—and how can we harness the depth, wisdom, and emotional range of our lived experience to strengthen our voice and craft?
In this generative course for poets over 45, we’ll write with authenticity and earned perspective. Most of our time will be devoted to writing together, using layered prompts inspired by accomplished poets such as Margaret Atwood, Patricia Smith, Lucille Clifton, Louise Glück, Diane Seuss, and Carl Phillips, as well as revolutionary younger voices like Chen Chen and Danez Smith. Each session will invite you to explore new themes, refine your craft, and embrace your creative vitality at this stage in your life. Optional time at the end of class will allow you to share work aloud and receive encouraging, informal feedback.
By the end of the course, you’ll have up to 24 new poem drafts or beginnings—a rich body of work that reflects the depth of your experience. You’ll gain confidence, strengthen your poetic voice, and find nourishment in a supportive, multigenerational community of writers who understand what it means to keep creating through life’s many seasons.
Who This Course is For
This course is geared toward writers of all levels at mid-life (45 or thereabouts) and beyond. Emerging writers are welcome and embraced.
Learning Goals:
In this course, students will:
- Hone and strengthen their poetic voices.
- Learn how to write and practice writing in a variety of poetic forms including the Seussian sonnet, haiku, cento, erasure, ekphrastic and epistle.
- Practice building tension and employing poetic turns.
- Gain confidence in sharing their work with other writers.
- Learn strategies for revision.
Writing Goals:
In this course, you will:
- Write 20-24 new poem drafts or beginnings.
- Write in a variety of poetic forms.
- Practice modifying (“breaking”) form.
- Play with precision and risk-taking in your writing.
Zoom Schedule:
Beginning January 6th, we will meet on Zoom on Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 PM Eastern.
Weekly Syllabus:
Week One: “Age is More Than a Number:” The Power of Lived Experience
This week, following an introduction to the class, we will read poems by writers like Louise Gluck, Patrick Connelly & Lucille Clifton & write in community with one another. The last 15 minutes or so will be spent verbally sharing work (optional) & receiving verbal, live feedback.
Week Two: “The Rest is Memory:” Remembering & Reimagining
This week, we will read poems by writers like Margaret Atwood & Patricia Smith as we write about family, place & memory. The facilitator will share some creative & traditional strategies for revision. The last 15 minutes or so will be spent verbally sharing work (optional) & receiving verbal, live feedback.
Week Three: “Grand Adventures:” Taking Risks & Developing Voice
This week, we will read poems by writers like Diane Seuss & Danez Smith & write poems that take risks as we develop & showcase our poetic voices & write in community with one another. The last 15 minutes or so will be spent verbally sharing work (optional) & receiving verbal, live feedback.
Week Four: “Fear & Fortitude:” Writing What We Must
This week, we will read poems by writers like Chen Chen, Camille Guthrie & Melissa Fite Johnson who use humor & other poetic tools to write about the complexities of the human experience as we write in community with one another. The last 15 minutes or so will be spent verbally sharing work (optional) & receiving verbal, live feedback.
Original price was: $345.00.$295.00Current price is: $295.00.Enroll Now
Student Feedback for Joan Kwon Glass:
Joan Kwon Glass is a phenomenal poet and an equally wonderful teacher. I got a tremendous amount of out her carefully developed workshop around a difficult but important topic (difficult family relationships). She provides excellent and extremely well-organized materials that include a rich array of poems, prompts and poetic resources that can be used again and again to help deepen your poetry craft. Her insights and I generated many new poems during the workshop, many of which are extremely promising and that I feel proud of. Do not hesitate to sign up for one of her workshops. Lisette A.
Joan is an incredibly kind, welcoming, and supportive teacher. Her classes are deeply engaging and well researched, and she introduces her students to a wide variety of poets and new and important work. Her generative prompts are inspiring, and she offers thoughtful and brilliant insight into work created in class. Jill K.
Joan encouraged us all to think deep and write quickly which always produces inspired results but can be difficult to do. She is a master! Her attention to detail gave us so many ideas and corners in which to create and likewise the poetry read and shared –and a class with an equally lovely guest poet– left me eager to write more, more, more! Thanks to Joan for a class where I kept producing, thinking, exploring. I will return to this experience again. Laura D.
January 2, 2026
Length: 4 Weeks
Open to AllText and Live Video
Zoom calls Tuesdays 6:30-8:30PM Eastern
Original price was: $345.00.$295.00Current price is: $295.00.
Original price was: $345.00.$295.00Current price is: $295.00.Enroll Now
