Poetry for Beginners: An Introduction to Writing and Appreciating the Craft

It's never too late to discover new ways to express yourself creatively. In fact, being 50+ is perhaps the perfect time. In this class, poet and teacher Kimberly O'Connor will explore how to express ourselves in poetry, especially as we age. What does being older bring to the table? How have other poets used the form to talk about aging and life? We'll read some classic and contemporary poems, consider how poems work, explore the building blocks of poetry, and write new poems of our own. We'll also have time to share and get feedback on our writing.

This is a six-session class with limited enrollment. It will meet on the following Fridays in April and May: 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/24. We will meet on Zoom from 12:30 to 1:45. This is NOT a drop-in class. Please only register if you can attend the entire class.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED BELOW. If you have trouble registering or have questions, email Amy at adelpo@denverlibrary.org.

About the instructor:  Your teacher will be Kim O'Connor, who is a North Carolina native who lives in Golden, Colorado. Her first book White Lung was released from Saturnalia Books in 2021 and is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. Kim has over 20 years of experience teaching and working with writers ages eight to adult. She was the Young Writers Program co-director for Lighthouse Writers Workshop for eight years. She received an MFA from the University of Maryland in 2009, where she was a winner of both the Academy of American Poetry student prize and the AWP Intro to Journals contest. Before that, she taught creative writing and literature in middle school, high school, and college classrooms in Maryland, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Kim’s poetry has been published in B O D Y, Copper Nickel, Colorado Review, Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, Slice, storySouth, THRUSH, and elsewhere.