Poetry writing classes in NYC... Gotham Writer's Workshop? 92Y?

January 6, 2014 6:36 AM

I'm looking for NYC poetry class recommendations! Gotham Writer's Workshop and 92Y are both offering courses that start soon. Poet's House also offers classes but they haven't announced the dates yet. Does anyone have experiences with any of these? Are there other poetry classes or groups I'm overlooking?

I'm not looking for workshops, but a regular class or group that meets regularly and frequently (weekly or so for a couple months, ideally).

posted by yaymukund to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

Response by poster: A regular class or group that meets regularly… this is why I need writing instruction!
posted by yaymukund at 6:44 AM on January 6, 2014

Geoffrey Nutter-- who was a year ahead of me at IA--has workshops.
posted by brujita at 7:26 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've taken poetry with Sharon Dolin at the 92nd Street Y, it was fantastic. I have heard that Gotham is all over the place in terms of skill level, so that if you feel you are accomplished, you may be wading through hours of listening to new writers testing their chops.

Also, check out my home court, the Writer's Studio, which does not focus on genre, but on persona narrator -- the voice, no matter what the genre. I'm real fan of releasing the genre thing, now that I've tried it.
posted by thinkpiece at 7:54 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also, if Writer's Studio interests you, feel free to memail me, and I can tell you more about it.
posted by thinkpiece at 7:56 AM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've taken Gotham classes and don't particularly recommend them -- you can't research the instructor ahead of time and there's no vetting process for students. Students don't participate well because there's no accountability.

I recommend Sackett Street workshops -- so great! Good instructors, good students. And I think it's a real treat to meet in the writer's home.
posted by xo at 12:11 PM on January 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you so much, everyone. I still have to think about it, but these responses have all been very helpful.

When I moved here from SF, they told me that I was going to the Mecca of writing classes, and now I see what they meant!
posted by yaymukund at 1:44 PM on January 6, 2014