In this workshop, we’ll look at poems crammed with comparative language. We’ll talk about metaphor, simile, and associative thinking, as well as considering how we can tell how much comparison a poem will bear. We’ll test specific metaphors for their elasticity and sense, and we’ll weigh the hazards and pay-offs of letting a poem’s similes pile up. The workshop will also include time for a generative exercise, focused on conjuring metaphor and/or simile.
 
Jane Zwart is the author of the poetry collection Oddest & Oldest & Saddest & Best (Orison Books, 2026), which Publishers Weekly calls "linguistically textured and appealingly direct." She teaches literature and writing at Calvin University, where she also co-directs the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing. Her poems have appeared widely in periodicals, including Poetry, The Poetry Review, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and Threepenny Review.
 
Virtual | Sat., March 14
3:00 - 4:30 pm ET | $75