Office Hours Poetry Workshop presents: a FREE craft class and reading with Catherine Barnett. The craft class takes place from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Bureau.

A public reading with Catherine Barnett, Jen Levitt, and Paco Marquez will follow from 1:30 PM-2:30 PM.

Spaces for the craft class are limited to 15 persons so please RSVP in advance to sarahmariesala@gmail.com. Please bring a notebook and pen/pencil in addition to your technological device in case of cross-genre prompts.

Improv for Poets: In this workshop we’ll practice improvisational writing, adapting theatrical exercises to our work on the page. We’ll also practice the energizing if at times uncomfortable art of not-knowing as we use the often under-explored resources of syntax to carry our poems into new territories. With supporting materials from Layli Long-Soldier, Wislawa Szymborska, Zbigniew Herbert, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Forrest Hamer, William Carlos Williams, Kathleen Peirce, and Larry Levis.

Office Hours Poetry Workshop provides post-MFA poets access to continued support for manuscript-development and everyday writing. The workshop culminates in a public reading each fall and spring to showcase sizzling new work. We welcome all poets, especially people of color, LGBTQ+, and those who are woman-identified. Our name derives from our side hustle. Many of us are freelance, adjunct instructors, who continue to thrive in the margins of academia.

Catherine Barnett‘s third collection, Human Hours, was just published by Graywolf Press in early fall 2018. She is the author of Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced and The Game of Boxes, winner of the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Her honors include a Whiting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She teaches at NYU and Hunter and works as an independent editor in NYC.

Jen Levitt is the author of The Off-Season (Four Way Books, 2016). She received her MFA from NYU, and her poems have appeared in Boston Review, The Literary Review, Sixth Finch, Tin House and elsewhere. She lives in New York City and teaches high school students.

Paco Márquez is author of the chapbook Portraits in G Minor (Folded Word Press, 2017). His work has appeared in Apogee, Ostrich Review, Live Mag! and Huizache, among others. As Spanish Editor for William O’Daly, he assisted in translating Pablo Neruda’s initial book, Crepusculario, for the first time into English, Book of Twilight, (Copper Canyon Press, 2017). His work has been supported by New York University, The Center for Book Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Originally from México and Northern California, Paco lives in New York City with his partner of 12 years. More at: pacomarquez.net