Workshops
Guided by Texas Poet Laureate Carrie Fountain, and for all levels, learn to use everyday life experiences as the foundation for creating meaningful and impactful poetry.
There are no available registration dates at this time.
A poet’s experience of the world is the very basis for their art. So why do we often feel like the lives we’re living aren’t interesting or meaningful enough to yield great poetry? In this generative, inclusive, encouragement-fueled workshop, your everyday experience is the only prerequisite for entrance into the craft of writing and reading poetry. Have you ever lived a life? If so, this workshop is for you.
Student testimonials
“Taking Carrie’s workshops, I feel not only like my writing has meaning, but that through writing—exploring memory, image, and experience—with her and the class, my life makes more sense to me, too.” — Rebecca
“I’ve long admired Carrie’s poetry, and getting to meet the poet herself was even better. She generously taught us the daily practices that have shaped her as a poet. Her attunement to her students and precision with our words was remarkable. I’m so grateful to have had the experience. ” — Libby
“What I really admire and find effective about Carrie’s workshops is how she takes the pretense out of poetry while challenging writers to be specific and surprising in their language and craft. She is a deeply generous teacher and many of the tools and ideas I learned in her workshops have become foundational to my artistic practice.” — Taji
“Carrie Fountain is as much an extraordinary poet as she is a teacher of poetry. Her workshops always engage the poetic mind and muscle and I finish them with invigorated purpose and new work to put forward. Her incisive eye for voice and imagery helps you take your poems to their next level. A must-take workshop for both the poetic newcomer and the seasoned writer.” — Jessica
Reviews
“Fountain’s stunning poems illuminate the complexities of motherhood and marriage with a clear, lyrical voice that speaks to us all.” — Ada Limón
“This poet’s voice works the way any great art works: so beautiful it hurts maybe too much that it seems dangerous. But it’s not like ‘any great art’— it’s this one book, this voice, this life, the only one we have. And this book changed it.” — Brenda Shaughnessy
“Fountain displays exquisite judgment, with each image, figure, question, paradox, snippet of overheard conversation, and philosophical meditation finding its perfect place. The effect is quietly exhilarating.” — Publisher’s Weekly
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Instructor: Carrie Fountain
Carrie Fountain is a poet, novelist, children’s book author, and screenwriter. She is the author of three poetry collections, The Life, Instant Winner, and Burn Lake, winner of the National Poetry Series Award, and the novel I’m Not Missing. Her children’s book, The Poem Forest, tells the story of American poet W.S. Merwin and the palm forest he grew from scratch on the island of Maui. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, American Poetry Review and The New Yorker, among many others. In 2019, Fountain was named Poet Laureate of Texas. She lives in Austin.