Poetry Workshop


Women reading a book

Make poems for the pure pleasure of making them.

For as long as there has been language, people have shaped it into song, chant, prayer, and praise. Long before poems lived in books, they lived in the breath and the body: in work songs, lullabies, blessings and laments. This workshop invites you back into that old and deeply human impulse, the delight of making something out of attention and words.

Through demonstrations, discussion, provocations, and short craft talks, we’ll read poems by contemporary poets, then try our hand at free verse that is sensory, elemental, and attuned to the vivid, many-layered world around us. Along the way, you may find yourself returning to the present moment, which is where poems begin.

All writing levels are welcome, including those who are new to poetry. The intention is not only to strengthen and nurture your creative expression, but also to remind you how good it feels to make art, however humble, in response to our lived experience.

April 23-25, 2027

Early Registration Fee: $399
Tuition increases on January 15, 2027.

Register Now

On-Campus Lodging

Participants can enjoy a special seasonal rate of $105 at the Stone Hotel and Cottages.

  • A notebook and pens for writing exercises 
  • A book of poetry that inspires you 
  • Comfortable layers; meeting rooms in Mallory-Towsley can run cool 

    Wi-Fi and printers will be available.

K-12 educators in Michigan can earn SCECH clock hours by attending the Poetry Workshop.

Holly Wren Spaulding

Meet the Faculty

Holly Wren Spaulding

Instructor of Creative Writing

Questions? Contact us.

Email: college@interlochen.org 

Phone: 231.276.7340 

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Interlochen College of Creative Arts student paints en plein air