2024
(See also From Draft to Craft Poetry Series and Knobs Haven Retreats for Women,)
Saturday, June 1 from 9am-noon, join us for “The Power of Two: The Diptych Form” in ACB 118 on the MTSU Campus. This event is also free, though advanced registration is required. Save your seat here!
Caring for the Caregiver Writing Experience
Tuesday, May 7—and future dates (free)
10 am – Noon
Realms of the Mothers Workshop
Saturday, May 11, 10 am – 12:30 pm (sliding fee)
Scan the QR Code or use this link to register: we’ll be in touch with payment info upon registration https://tinyurl.com/468r4a4m This is likely to sell out quickly, so register soon if you are interested!
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Community of Creative Writers River Retreat
Saturday, April 27, 10 am -4 pm ($79)
This is the favorite event of the season for so many of us! Register with Sherry Cook Stanforth originaryartsinitiative@gmail.com
Writing Where and What You Know (and What You Don’t)
Saturday, April 13, 1-4:30 pm (Free!)
Loyal Jones Appalachian Center
Berea College, Berea, KY
RSVP to info@smpbooks.com
Sponsored by Shadelandhouse Modern Press, LLC
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Finding the Poem in Family Stories—an online generative workshop offered by The Notebooks Collective
Tuesday, April 9, 7-9 pm ($50)
Use this link to find out more–and register if it is a fit for you! https://thenotebookscollective.com/event/finding-the-poem-in-family-stories/
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Developing Your Manuscript—an online informational workshop offered by The Notebooks Collective
Saturday, March 30, 10:30 am-12:30 pm ($25)
The Ohio Poetry Association offering of this workshop sold out twice! If you did not make it, consider this one! https://thenotebookscollective.com/event/developing-your-poetry-manuscript/
Developing Your Poetry Manuscript
Saturday, January 13 · 1 – 4pm EST
Online; Register here
For our first quarterly workshop of 2024, we welcome poet and educator, Pauletta Hansel! She’ll lead a virtual workshop via Zoom and answer all your challenging questions about how to assemble a collection of poems.
There are as many ways to organize a collection of poems as there are poets who write them. And yet there are strategies and principles that can be useful across these differences. “If you have a book of twenty-four poems, the book itself should be the twenty-fifth,” Robert Frost has been quoted as saying. Using this statement as a guide, Pauletta will offer various approaches she and other poets have used to create that cohesive whole, including the writing of poetic sequences. She will also provide resources for further study on the matter. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion, so come ready to talk about your struggles and successes in developing your own manuscript.
This is a virtual event held online via Zoom. This event is open to the public.
Registration closes on Thursday, January 11, at 5 p.m. EDT. The Zoom link and any handouts will be sent to registrants at that time.
2023
Pre-Registration required: bwilliams@muchmorethanameal.org
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Register: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0545afaf22abfd0-finding
A poetic sequence is a series of poems that work both individually and “converse” to create a cohesive whole. The method of conversation is unlimited: image, metaphor, form, language, story, intersection, juxtaposition… Poetic sequences provide poets a larger canvas on which to develop a subject, and can encourage both experimentation and deepening of expression. They are extremely useful within the process of manuscript development. Plus, they offer individualized writing prompts to keep our pens (or cursors) moving. We will read and discuss examples of poetic sequences and write our own. The workshop will also include group and facilitator feedback on these sequences-in-progress. This is a 3-session, synchronous virtual workshop for poets. Class begins May 10th and space is limited to only 8 participants! Learn more and register at https://bit.ly/3HHPnOx
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https://www.porchtn.org/class/finding-the-lyric-essay-or-poem-in-family-stories
Write to originaryartsinitiative@gmail.com to register for this event and receive the session link.
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Click the description of The Porch program you are interested in to find more info and register. Or click here for listing of all The Porch workshops.
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This is a FREE! two-day Conference with some fantastic workshops in fiction, nonfiction, songwriting and poetry. The theme is “Appalachia Remembers: Mining for Memories.” My talk will be a mix of essay and poetry called “Branch and Root: In Search of an Appalachian Family History.” As of this writing they are working on updating their website, but registration is available here or and information is available by contacting Gayle Nelsen at Gayle.Nelsen@ws.edu.
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Past Years Programs
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Pre-Registration required
Breanna: breannawilliams@55north.org
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Finding the Poem in Family Stories
A generative poetry workshop led by Pauletta Hansel
Roebling Books
601 Overton St, Newport, KY
Wednesday, August 31, 6:30-8:30 pm
Free with the purchase of Pauletta Hansel’s Heartbreak Tree or another poetry book; no registration required.
“There aren’t many poets in this world who can tell a story like Pauletta Hansel,” says poet and reviewer Sara Moore Wagner, in her Still: The Journal review of Heartbreak Tree. In this generative workshop, Pauletta Hansel, facilitator of the From Draft to Craft poetry seminar, will discuss the “lyric story” using examples of poems that use story to do their lyrical work, and provide a prompt to get participants writing their own.
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Knobs Haven Writing Retreats for Women
Writing and sharing in community with a wealth of unstructured alone time for writing, reading, reflecting and resting. Please click here for more information, including 2022 dates
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Pauletta Hansel: The Art of Losing
June 18, 2022
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Central United Methodist Church, 201 3rd Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37917, United States
Pauletta Hansel, author of Heartbreak Tree and Palindrome, the Weatherford Award winning book about her mother’s journey through dementia, will lead this generative workshop on writing through some of our mostchallenging material. Pauletta will provide examples of how writers have chosen poetic and prose forms to make art from content in which they might otherwise have drowned, then provide some prompts to get us writing.
All KWG Workshops are $50 for non-members, $30 for members and $15 for student members. Log in to take advantage of the reduced rates.
Pre-registration is strongly encouraged and closes at midnight on the Thursday prior to the event. Walk-ins are welcome but there will be a $10 surcharge. Save money and help your presenters plan more effective programs by pre-registering. Check payments must be received by one week before the workshop (Knoxville Writers Guild. P.O. Box 10326 Knoxville TN 37939-0326).
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Finding the Poem in Family Stories
“Everyone loves a story,” wrote the poet Philip Levine. And surely we all have them—how Aunt Ruby lost her only diamond. How you lost your virginity! “You think you have a right/to know everything?” Levine goes on to ask in his poem, A Story, that is not, in fact, a narrative—no plot, no chronological beginning, middle, end–but a poem with story lurking at its edges. In this generative workshop, poet Pauletta Hansel will provide several examples of poems that use story to do their lyrical work, and provide some prompts to get us writing.
Wednesday, June 1 at 5:00 PM at the Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St. All ages and experience levels welcome. Register here. We invite you to stay for Pauletta’s reading with Marjorie Maddox at 7:00. $25. Hardship sponsorships are available.
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Click on the image below to view the recorded workshop.
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For ongoing Workshops, click individual program titles under the heading Programs.
For one-time or short-term workshops, check back here or contact me to be placed on my mailing list. Examples of previous programs can be found below..
Workshop: Writing The Caregiving Road
Saturday, August 17, 2019 at 1 PM – 3 PM
In this workshop, Pauletta Hansel and Linda Parsons will explore your stories of caregiving, your struggles, and realizations about your loved ones and yourselves through the writing process. As former caregivers for parents with vascular dementia, they will use writing samples and prompts to create community and sharing along the rough road of caregiving, whether you’re navigating Alzheimer’s, dementia, or another chronic condition.
This nurturing and inspiring writing session is an opportunity to use writing to reflect on your own journey and to share as much or as little as you choose in a supportive, safe circle of other caregivers. No previous writing experience is necessary.
Where: Central United Methodist Church, 201 3rd Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917
For online registration click here, rather than on the image.
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Developing Your Manuscript (Poetry)
An online course
Information and Registration
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Saturday, September 29, 2018, 11:00 am -12:30 pm
Brier Books | 319 S. Ashland Avenue Ste. 100, Lexington, KY 40502 |
859-523-6404
Registration Required:
Join me at my last event as Cincinnati’s Poet Laureate!
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Doors open at 7:00; Panel at 7:30
Free
Chase Public
2868 Colerain Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45225
Join Chase Public and Cincinnati’s poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel for a panel discussion and Q&A focused on the world of publishing and poetry. Come, learn, and interact with the perspective and experience of seasoned experts who exist at many levels within the publishing structure. It’s an exciting and intimidating process, and we’re here to help you along the way! With Panelists: Lisa Ampleman, Pauletta Hansel, Matt Hart, Nicci Mechler, Stacy Sims, and Tyrone Williams.
The Format: Each Panelist will have 5-7 minutes to express their thoughts and focus, their wisdom and experience. After the six short presentations, the floor is open for questions and discussions from the audience. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/156907208353759/
I am honored to facilitate Hindman Settlement School’s Spring 2018 Troublesome Creek Writers’ Retreat, March 23-25, 2018. Rather than a structured writing workshop, most of the retreat time is set aside for writing in a peaceful environment away from the hustle of everyday life. These retreats fill quickly!
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She Persists: An Intergenerational Writing Workshop Women and girls of all ages are invited to join Cincinnati Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel to write and hear each other’s stories of women’s wisdom and strength. Saturday March 10, 5:30-6:30 pm The Sanctuary (St Michael Street, Lower Price Hill) Free. Part of The Artistry of Women Street Fair.
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Click the photo for registration. More information on the Facebook Event, here.
POETRY AS WITNESS; POETRY FOR CHANGE
SAT, APRIL 29, 2017, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
The Hive: A Center for Contemplation, Art, and Action
1662 Blue Rock Street
#1a
Cincinnati, OH 45223
“In the dark times, will there also be singing? / Yes, there will be singing. / About the dark times” —Bertolt Brecht
“In a time of frontal assaults both on language and on human solidarity, poetry can remind us of all we are in danger of losing—disturb us, embolden us out of resignation” –Adrienne Rich
“Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before” –Audre Lorde
Cincinnati Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel facilitates a morning of writing and sharing poetry as a practice bearing witness to society and advocating for change. Joining with us in a hands-on exploration of our “skeleton architecture”, your poetic voice.
No previous writing experience is necessary. Come with notebook and pen, a willingness to listen, and a readiness to write with an open heart and mind.
This workshop is part of “Contemplation In Action,” an ongoing series at The Hive, exploring the intersection of contemplative stillness and social action. These events are designed to put meditation’s withdrawal inward in connection with the activist’s expression outward in ways that are valued as beauty and justice in the world. Rather than merely resisting world events, this series seeks to engage in a sacred activism, insisting on the good, true, or beautiful among us.
Events open with a short guided mediation and end with an collective action or intention, usually of a political nature. $15 plus Eventbrite fee by March 28; $18 plus Eventbrite fee thereafer. Click here for registration.
Registration and information here.
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Write Me I’m Yours Writing Circle Join Cincinnati Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel for writing about place. Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Rohs Street Cafe, 245 W. McMillan St.(Clifton Heights)
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Cincinnati Walking Sonnet Project Workshop
with the City’s Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel
Saturday, October 29, 2016
10:30 am-1:00 pm
The Mercantile Library
This is not your grandpa’s sonnet. You don’t even have to rhyme. Cincinnati Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel invites you to join her for a literary walk around the neighborhood—in this case Cincinnati’s downtown—writing as you go. Eight blocks equals eight lines—each roughly ten syllables, roughly iambic—inspired by what you encounter, and then for the “volta” (Italian for “turn”) you will literally turn, walking and writing for six blocks back, having made notes for a poem that leaves you in a slightly different place than you began—as all good literature will do. Participants will gather back at Mercantile for sharing their first draft sonnets.
We will begin at 10:30 am at the Mercantile Library for some examples of sonnets and conversation about the process. Then participants will go singly or in pairs or groups for about an hour’s worth of strolling and writing in whatever direction you choose. Sharing will happen around noon or when all have returned—whatever comes first! All ages and experience levels are welcome; youth under 16 should be accompanied by an adult for the walk. Please wear comfortable walking shoes and clothes for the weather, and bring a pen and small notebook, plus a brown bag lunch, if you choose. http://new.mercantilelibrary.com/event/cincinnati-walking-sonnet-workshop/
Express — A Creative Writing Exchange with Kentucky Poet Laureate George Ella Lyon and Cincinnati Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel Wednesday, Oct. 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at The Mercantile Library of Cincinnati — 414 Walnut St. #1100, Cincinnati, OH 45202 –
Writers’ workshops are offered on various aspects of the writing life as well as daylong, weekend or weeklong retreats that may be scheduled to meet your group’s needs.
Retreats are planned with a balance of time for both individual writing and reflection and group sharing and fellowship.
For more information, please contact me.
Pauletta Hansel 
