A One-Night Short Course from the Writers’ Annex
Mike Tyson famously said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. The same could be said about poetry. So often when we pick up a poem, all our skills of reading, interpretation and analysis, can suddenly feel useless. But it turns out they are not useless at all. We just need to learn how to apply those skills to the particularity of poetry.
This course is for people who think they don’t know how to read poetry (spoiler alert: you do!). It’s also for experienced readers who enjoy diving deep into poems, and sharing insights with others. And it’s for poets, who know that the deeper one reads, the more one can learn about how poems work, and learn how to take that knowledge back into our own creativity.
In this class we will read four contemporary poems slowly, carefully, and closely. Each one will exemplify certain typical approaches by contemporary American poets. We will use these poems to talk about ways of entering into a poem that respect the words the poet has chosen, and the special nature of the poetic imagination, which is inherently metaphorical, intuitive, and leaping. We will be specific about what to do and when to do it, so that we can establish a plan for approaching any poem with respect and curiosity. We will talk about the different levels of reading — the literal, the allegorical, and the personal — and how each of those layers of reading is valid, but must be separated in order to respect the poem.
The course will last three hours, with a period of time for question and answer at the end. The poems to be discussed will be distributed before the class, along with optional supplemental material. I look forward to reading together with all of you, to hearing your thoughts and questions, and to re-democratizing the reading of poetry together!
Register Here
Register for the 2026 Season Pass
Register for all four one-night courses only: Spring 2026 Collection
Dates & Times: Online Tuesday, February 24, 2026. Main session runs from 4 pm-7 pm (Pacific), 3 hours, with optional discussion group to follow.
Note: For those who are interested, an intimate Zoom discussion group (Virtual House) will meet immediately after each the session.
Readings
Handouts will be posted online and shared via email prior to the first session.
Matthew Zapruder
Matthew Zapruder is the author most recently of the poetry collections I Love Hearing Your Dreams (Scribner, 2024), and How to Continue (The Economy Press, 2025), and five previous collections of poetry, including Father’s Day, Sun Bear, and Come on All You Ghosts, as well as Why Poetry (Ecco/Harper Collins) and Story of a Poem (Unnamed). He is editor at large at Wave Books, where he edits contemporary poetry, prose, and translations. From 2016-17 he held the annually rotating position of Editor of the Poetry Column for the New York Times Magazine, and was the Guest Editor for Best American Poetry 2022. He lives in the Bay Area of California, where he teaches in the MFA in creative writing at Saint Mary’s College of California, and plays music with The Figments and We Are Leaves. matthewzapruder.com
What to Expect:
- One, three-hour session online. The group can be large, depending on the course.
- In the first half, Matthew will present in a lecture-style format.
- In the second half of the session, Matthew will continue his presentation, and will address questions and widen the discussion. Participant questions and comments will be submitted in the chat.
- Optional small (8-10 person) discussion groups will be available to those with the energy and interest after the formal session is over.
- The session will be recorded, and will be available for later viewing by registered participants for at least 30 days following the final session
Tuition:
- Early Bird Tuition is $54. The Early Bird Deadline is Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
- Standard Tuition is $60.
- Limited financial aid available. Please contact us if needed.
- Season Pass and other packages available here. (link coming soon)
Register Here
Register for the 2026 Season Pass
Register for all four one-night courses only: Spring 2026 Collection
The Writers Annex
Online, and year-round, The Writers’ Annex is composed of short courses, seminars, workshops, and more. Our vision is to bring the creative insight and experience of our staff poets and prose writers to our community in all seasons, not just in the summertime, and not just here in our Valley. Our online offerings will address such topics as eco-poetics, translation, and generative sessions. Some will be one or two days, some will be weekend intensives, and some will meet weekly for a month or two. In addition, we hope these offerings will help offset the tremendous expenses we face as an organization for our traditional in-person events in Olympic Valley. Join our Mailing List