PLANET EARTH POETRY’S 8th ANNUAL RETREAT (2022)
Susan Olding is the author of Big Reader: Essays, and Pathologies: A Life in Essays, chosen by 49th Shelf and Amazon.ca as one of 100 Canadian books to read in a lifetime. Her poetry has appeared widely in literary journals, including Arc, CV2, Event, The Malahat Review, TNQ, Queen’s Quarterly, and in several anthologies, including In Fine Form, Second Edition.
Tell Me a Secret: Confessional Poetry for the Contemporary Moment
with Susan Olding
SATURday, JUNE 25 AND SUNday, JUNE 26, 2022
The urge to write about our personal struggles must be as old as poetry itself. As far back as Sappho, poets have written about their loves, their losses, their regrets, their secrets, their shame. Yet these days, personal poetry is sometimes considered solipsistic or self-indulgent, and the word “confessional” is often used as a term of disparagement. What is the source of the animosity toward personal exploration or revelation in poetry? In the face of such attitudes, how can we continue to write if our creativity is rooted in personal experience? And what is the relevance of the confessional mode in our politically charged times
In this two-day retreat, we’ll read and write personal or confessional poetry (and prose) in the hope of living those questions. Maybe we’ll even make our way towards some tentative answers. Whether you love to write from personal experience, or the idea terrifies you, you’ll come away with inspiration, ideas, and renewed courage.
COST: $175 Maximum 12 participants.
TO REGISTER: Please email your name, address and phone number to Barbara Pelman.
SUBJECT LINE: 2022 PEP retreat
PAYMENT: Cheque made out to Planet Earth Poetry, OR e-transfer to this PEP email. Your cheque or e-transfer will hold your place.
LOCATION: Details upon registration. The retreat will be held in a private home, and as such we request participants be fully vaccinated and abide by BC Health guidelines at the time.
PEP workshops reserve two bursaries for participants who identify as Indigenous and who register by June 15. Please identify yourself to Barbara Pelman when you register.
Please be aware of PEP’s cancellation policy: Your cheque or e-transfer will hold your place, and if you have to cancel before JUNE 15, this will be refunded. Cancellations after the 15th will not be refunded unless we can fill your place.