Bethanie Humphreys

Private Creative Writing Workshops led by Bethanie Humphreys

• Nuts, Bolts & Hummingbirds: Inclusive Poetry Editing Questions: Polishing. This six-week poetry-editing workshop was designed to help poets develop their own self-editing style. It ran January 17 to February 21, 2024, entirely on-line using Wet Ink for posting assignments and Zoom meetings on Wednesdays, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Participants engaged in poetry editing exercises designed to help the writer hone their craft, both as a writer and a critical reader. Topics of the Course included: Where to Begin: Titles, Epigraphs, and First Lines; How Does It End; Verb Strength Analysis; Distillation; and Punctuation.
• Winter Solace Writing Workshops: Winter can be a difficult time for any number of reasons, and it often helps to spend time connecting through writing with ourselves and our community. In the spirit of comfort, participants attended a series of one-day, online generative writing workshops via Zoom. It ran weekly, January 9 – February 23. At each session, we began by reading and briefly discussing one poem, then we wrote in response to craft-driven prompts, or whatever inspires us that day, followed by the opportunity to share work for gentle feedback.
• Nuts, Bolts & Hummingbirds: Inclusive Poetry Editing Questions: Form. Seven-week poetry-editing workshop designed to help poets develop their own self-editing style, October 4 to November 15, 2023, entirely on-line using Wet Ink and Zoom for weekly meetings. During these seven weeks, we engage in poetry editing exercises and experiments focused on various aspects of form designed to help the writer hone their craft, both as a writer and a critical reader. What makes a poem feel complete can vary widely from poet to poet, and this course is designed to encourage poets to make informed decisions for themselves on their desired aesthetics and what they want to convey, and to learn from their readers what is being conveyed. Topics of the Course: Introduction to Form & Free Verse, Traditional Forms, Experimental Forms, Choosing the Best Form, Translating Free Verse into Received Forms, and Translating Traditional Forms into Free Verse.
  
• Science Ekphrasis: Writing Scientific Imagery-Inspired Poetry Weekly inspirational materials, poems, and prompts provided. Topics: the Cosmos, Under the Microscope, Ecologic, Creatures, and Student Choice. In Zoom sessions, we read and briefly discussed a few poems, and wrote in class in response to various science-generated or science-inspired images. Weekly poems submitted for written feedback. Aug 16, 2023 – Sept 13, 2023.
  
• NaPoWriMo 2023 – BIPOC Muses – provided 30 daily prompts and inspirational materials from a different poet who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color each day, feedback on participants’ daily poems using the website Wet Ink, and weekly Zoom meetings where we write together to a prompt and spend time discussing poems by the poet-muse of the day. March 30, 2023 – April 30, 2023.
  
• Editing Alone and With Others – Patterns in Poetry – Seven-week poetry-editing workshop January 12 to February 23, 2023, entirely on-line using email for correspondence and Zoom meetings Thursday evenings, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Topics of the Course: Using Patterns to Make a Poem More Effective, Patterns in Poetry – Sound, Rhyme, Rhythm, Syllabics and Word Choice, Line Breaks, Stanza & Section Breaks. In and out of class lessons and writing exercises. My poetry workshopping format is based on my own curriculum as well as a blend of the AWA editing method and the Anti-Racist Writing Workshop model by Felicia Rose Chavez.
  
• Editing Alone and With Others: Imagery and Metaphor, October 6 – November 17, 2022, entirely online with Zoom meetings Thursdays 6:30-8:30 p.m. In and out of class lessons and writing exercises on strengthening imagery, metaphor, and balancing imagery with statement. My poetry workshopping format is based on my own curriculum as well as a blend of the AWA editing method and the Anti-Racist Writing Workshop model by Felicia Rose Chavez.
  
• The Scientific Lens: An Exploration of Science-Inspired Poetry –one-day poetry discussion and creative writing workshop for the Poetry Foundation’s Forms & Features workshop series on May 12, 2022.
  
• Write Around the World, May, 2022 – one-day 3-hour workshop called The Scientific Lens: An Exploration of Science-Inspired Poetry (part of the annual fundraiser for the Amherst Writers & Artists method).
  
• NaPoWriMo 2022 – 30 Muses – provided 30 daily prompts and inspirational materials from a different woman or non-binary poet each day, feedback on participants’ daily poems using the website Wet Ink, and weekly Zoom meetings where we write together to a prompt and spend more time with poems by the poet-muse of the day. March 31, 2022 – April 30, 2022.
  
• Editing Alone and With Others: Crystallizing the Poem’s Vision – a poetry editing workshop with exercises designed to help poets develop their own self-editing style and hone their craft, both as a writer and a critical reader. January 20 – March 3, 2022.
  
• Editing Alone and With Others: Grounding, a poetry editing workshop with exercises designed to help poets develop their own self-editing style and hone their craft, both as a writer and a critical reader. November 10, 2021 – December 8, 2021.
  
• The Scientific Lens: An Exploration of Science-Inspired Poetry – eight-week workshop, each week we climbed a different branch of science and considered its potential applications to poetry. Essays and example poems provided as well as prompts along with weekly feedback sessions on participant’s new poems, and discussion of the readings. June 23 – August 18, 2021.
  
• Where to Begin: NaPoWriMo in April, 2021 – provided 30 daily prompts and feedback on daily poems using the website Wet Ink, and more in-depth feedback on one poem per week for all participants at weekly workshops via Zoom. April 1 – 30, 2021.
  
• Write Around the World, May, 2020 – one-day 3-hour workshop as part of the annual fundraiser for the Amherst Writers & Artists method.
  
• Where to Begin: NaPoWriMo in April, 2020 – provided 30 daily prompts and feedback on daily poems using the website Wet Ink, and more in-depth feedback on one poem per week for all participants at weekly workshops via Zoom. April 1 – 30, 2020.
  
• Kick-Start Your Creativity!, a six-week, all-genre generative writing workshop with writing to multiple prompts in every session and AWA feedback. Prompts designed to both inspire and improve the writer’s craft. Session themes: overcoming obstacles to writing, poetry, flash-fiction, flash non-fiction, dialogue, and collaborative writing. Sept 3 – Oct 8, 2019.
  
• AWA Pop-Up Workshops – two hour individual sessions for various dates in 2020/2021.