Led by: Pamela Barnes, M.A.
A six-week course offered on Monday evenings, Jan. 28 - Mar. 4, 7 - 9 p.m.
Suggested fee: $ 10 per class or $ 50 for the whole course
To register, email: pamelabarnes9@sbcglobal.net or call: (510) 215-4543.
What does it take to write poetry compared with the writing of prose? Are you confused about the many different forms? Here is an opportunity to get acquainted with some answers and find out if you have the talent to write good poetry.
These are some areas we will be exploring (leaving time for some exercises):
- The basics of poetic language, line, stress, meter and rhyme
- Different types of poetic form: from the classical sonnet to haiku, or free verse (which isn’t “free”)
- Avoiding many pitfalls of the ‘bad’ in poetry-writing and finding a recipe for the ‘good’
- Getting the poetic writing process going – imagery, metaphor, openings and closings
Pamela Barnes was educated in England and took her degrees from London University in Anthropology and the Fine Arts. In the States, she first lived in Manhattan, NYC, and wrote many drama scripts and adaptations of literary works for NPR radio. Her programs won a National Endowment Award for excellence in broadcasting. Since living in the East Bay, she has written award-winning poetry, essays, plays, and children’s literature. The Browning Society of San Francisco often features Pamela’s talks on the lives of famous Victorian women writers and poets at the time of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In partnership with brilliant composer/musician Ellen Hoffman, she has written two musicals: one, a pirate-based romp called “Josephine The Pirate Queen,” (book and lyrics), was recently produced at the Knox Theater and can be viewed on YouTube.
