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When You Write

Poetry Vs Prose: Understanding The Differences Between Poetic And Prosaic Language

Do you ever find yourself wondering why some literature reads like a beautiful poetic masterpiece while others are straightforward and to the point? The answer lies in the difference between poetry and prose.

While both forms of writing have their unique features and complexities, understanding their differences can help you appreciate and analyze them more deeply.

In this article, you will explore the world of poetry and prose and learn how to distinguish between the two. You will delve into the structural and stylistic differences, as well as the purpose and audience of each form of writing.

By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of the beauty and complexity of both poetry and prose and be able to appreciate the artistry behind each one.

So, whether you are a writer or a reader, get ready to embark on a journey of literary exploration.

Key Takeaways

Poetry uses rhythmic and metaphorical language, while prose follows a natural flow of speech.
Poetic language is used to create artistry in the work, while prosaic language is used to communicate information to a specific audience.
Poetry is often associated with more artistic or literary genres, while prosaic language is more commonly used in non-fiction, journalism, and other genres that prioritize communication over artistry.
Both forms have their own unique value and can broaden our understanding of the world and the human experience in different ways.

Defining Poetry and Prose

Do you know what poetry and prose are? Let me tell you, poetry is a form of writing that uses rhythmic and metaphorical language, while prose is a straightforward form of writing that follows a natural flow of speech.

Poetry has its origins in oral traditions and has evolved over time to become a written art form. It has a rich cultural significance and impact, from the ancient Greek epic poems to modern-day spoken word performances.

Prose, on the other hand, has its roots in the written word and is often used for storytelling, journalism, and academic writing. It’s a more direct and efficient way of conveying information compared to poetry, which can be more abstract and open to interpretation.

Despite their differences, both poetry and prose have their own unique beauty and value in the world of literature. Understanding the distinctions between the two can help you appreciate and enjoy them both even more.

Structure and Style

When it comes to the structure and style of writing, there are a few key points to keep in mind.

In poetry, the use of rhythm, rhyme, and imagery can add depth and emotion to the words.

On the other hand, prose often follows the natural flow of speech for a more conversational tone.

Understanding these differences can help you craft your writing in a way that best fits your message and style.

Adjusting the paragraph structure in this way makes it easier to read and understand. It also adds a more casual tone to the writing by using contractions.

Use of Rhythm, Rhyme, and Imagery in Poetry

As you read a poem, you’ll feel the rhythm and hear the rhyme, creating imagery that paints a vivid picture in your mind. The use of rhythm, rhyme, and imagery is what sets poetry apart from prose. These elements give poetry a musical quality that can captivate and move its readers.

Here are four ways in which poets use rhythm, rhyme, and imagery to create meaning and beauty:

Rhythm: Poets use rhythm to create a musical quality in their work. They do this by repeating sounds or syllables, creating a sense of pattern and movement. This can help to create a mood or tone in the poem, and can also help to emphasize certain words or phrases.
Rhyme: Poets also use rhyme to create a musical quality in their work. Rhyme occurs when two or more words have the same ending sound. This can make the poem sound more pleasing to the ear, and can also help to create a sense of unity or completeness in the poem.
Imagery: Poets use imagery to create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. They do this by using descriptive language that appeals to the senses. This can help to create a mood or tone in the poem, and can also help to convey the poet’s message.
Symbolism: Poets often use symbolism to convey deeper meanings in their work. They do this by using objects, images, or actions that represent something else. This can help to create a sense of depth and complexity in the poem, and can also help to convey the poet’s message in a more subtle and nuanced way.

Natural Flow of Speech in Prose

You’ll find that when you speak in everyday conversation, your words flow naturally, like a river carving its way through the earth.

Unlike poetry, which has a distinct rhythm, prose tends to follow the natural intonation patterns of speech. It doesn’t necessarily have to adhere to a specific meter, rhyme scheme, or structure, making it more flexible and adaptable to different contexts.

In prose, you can use a conversational tone to connect with your audience on a more personal level. You can convey your thoughts and ideas in a way that feels authentic and relatable, instead of trying to fit them into a predetermined structure.

This allows for more creativity and spontaneity, as you can experiment with different sentence lengths, word choices, and even dialects to capture the nuances of everyday speech.

Ultimately, the natural flow of language in prose is what makes it such a powerful tool for communication, allowing us to express ourselves in a way that is both clear and compelling.

Purpose and Audience

The purpose and audience of a piece greatly influence whether poetic or prosaic language will be used. A writer’s decision to use poetic language stems from their desire to create artistry in their work, while their use of prosaic language is driven by the need to communicate information to a specific audience.

Here are four factors that determine the use of poetic or prosaic language:

Purpose vs Artistry: If the writer’s primary goal is to create artistry in their work, they’ll likely use poetic language. This is because poetry allows writers to use figurative language, symbolism, and other literary devices to create a more vivid and emotional experience for the reader.
Audience vs Expression: If the writer is targeting a specific audience or demographic, they’ll likely use prosaic language. This is because using overly poetic language can alienate readers who aren’t familiar with or interested in that style of writing. Prosaic language is more accessible and easier to understand, making it a better choice for communication.
Tone and Mood: The tone and mood of a piece also play a role in determining whether poetic or prosaic language is used. If the writer is trying to create a somber or melancholic mood, they may use poetic language to convey a sense of sadness or longing. On the other hand, if the writer is trying to create a more lighthearted or humorous tone, they may use more straightforward, prosaic language.
Genre: Finally, the genre of a piece can also dictate whether poetic or prosaic language is used. Poetry is often associated with more artistic or literary genres, such as romance, drama, and literary fiction. Prosaic language is more commonly used in non-fiction, journalism, and other genres that prioritize communication over artistry.

Understanding the purpose and audience of a piece is essential in deciding whether to use poetic or prosaic language. Ultimately, it’s up to the writer to decide which style best suits their goals and message, while keeping in mind the needs and expectations of their audience.

Analysis and Interpretation

Get ready to dive deep into the meaning and emotions behind the words in your favorite literary works. Analysis and interpretation are crucial when it comes to understanding the differences between poetic and prosaic language.

While prose tends to be more straightforward and literal, poetry is often filled with figurative language that requires careful analysis in order to fully grasp its symbolism and metaphorical meanings. Figurative language is one of the key elements that sets poetry apart from prose.

Poets use a variety of literary devices, such as metaphors, similes, and personification, to create vivid and imaginative descriptions that go beyond the literal meaning of the words. Symbolism is also a common feature in poetry, where objects, settings, and even words themselves can represent deeper and more complex meanings.

By analyzing these elements, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the emotions and themes that a poet is trying to convey. So, the next time you read a poem, be sure to take your time and look beyond the surface level to uncover its hidden meanings.

Appreciating the Beauty and Complexity of Both Forms

Don’t miss out on experiencing the beauty and complexity of both poetic and prosaic language, as they each have their own unique value.

Poetry has the ability to evoke a strong emotional impact through its use of imagery, rhythm, and figurative language. It can capture the essence of a moment or feeling in a way that prose cannot, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

On the other hand, prose offers a more straightforward and logical presentation of ideas, making it easier to understand complex concepts and analyze them critically. It also has cultural relevance, as it’s the primary form of communication in many fields such as science, law, and journalism.

Both forms of writing have their place in our lives, and we can appreciate their beauty and complexity in different ways. By embracing both forms, we can broaden our understanding of the world and the human experience.

As you wrap up this journey of understanding the differences between poetic and prosaic language, you may find yourself feeling like you’ve gained a deeper appreciation for both forms of expression.

Whether you’re exploring the complexities of the human condition through poetry or delving into a gripping story through prose, you’ve seen firsthand how language can be used to create beauty, evoke emotion, and inspire change.

So go forth and continue to appreciate the beauty and complexity of both poetry and prose and let them guide you on your own creative journey.

Prose Courses

What is Prose in Writing?

Written by Haley Boyce

Prose is art. The way a writer uses language to tell a story. It lacks formality yet requires attention to detail. Writers manipulate the structure of sentences to elicit an emotional response from their readers. When a writer tells a story in ordinary, everyday language they are giving you their best in prose.

Translated from its original form in Latin, prosa oratio , prose means straightforward.

This is not to say that prose is reserved for research papers or delivering scientific data, only that prose serves a direct purpose of telling something to the reader. What that something is, however, is up to you.

What are the Different Types of Prose?

Prose is one of those things that has so many examples that it becomes almost difficult to define. On one hand, the beauty of prose is that it really is everywhere you look. On the other hand, its definition can feel complex or ambiguous because of how expansive those examples can be. The following are some of the areas where you will (and have undoubtedly already) experienced prose.

There’s a big, fat chance that you’ve spent a good chunk of your life calling a book a novel just because it had a bunch of pages. Get ready for your mind to be blown: All novels are books, but not all books are novels. A novel is a fiction book with an approximate minimum of 200 pages.

Examples of prose include literally any and every fiction book that exists.

Prose in novels tells a story with all elements of plot, and the author works to create a story that moves you with their characters, conflict, word choice, and varied sentence structure. Whether an example of prose is good or bad is purely subjective.

Newspapers and other informational texts

Prose is present in any place where a story is being told, and that includes the news or any other form of printed information like journals or periodicals. For examples of prose in informational text, read the Los Angeles Times , the New Yorker , People magazine, or Yahoo news skim the surface of informational texts.

Let’s be real, not all speeches are great. Some hold an audience captive and leave them inspired to make some sort of change. Others are frightening in their ideals, out of touch with their audience, or just miss the mark completely. For examples of great speeches, check out TED talks, State of the Union addresses from past presidents, or (for a humorous tone) celebrity roasts.

Fairy tales

Cinderella , The Little Mermaid , Jack and the Beanstalk , The Gingerbread Man , Hansel and Gretl , Rumplestiltskin . . . the list is infinite. All of these are examples of prose because they tell a story without conforming to meter, as poems do. Rather they have all elements of plot and a unique message and tone.

Interpersonal communication

Conversation counts as prose! See how it really is everywhere?

Because prose is (again) informal, everyday language that tells a story, conversations that we have with our friends count as prose.

When the holidays roll around and you’re recounting that time your front tire blew out on the freeway, how you met your partner, or what happened when your dog saw a squirrel and wound up taking you on a walk around the neighborhood instead of the other way around – all of those stories are prose. The next time you tell a story out loud, think about the points in your story that you emphasize or embellish. These are elements that inflate your prose with the breath of life.

When it comes to writing prose, author’s compose without the restraints imposed on poetry. Where poetry tells a story by relying on syllables and word pronunciation to set the meter, prose is basically an all out free-for-all. To solidify your understanding of prose, compare some examples of the genres above with some of the following poems, which contain something prose does not: Meter.

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day , by William Shakespeare (iambic pentameter)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas , by Dr. Seuss (anapestic tetrameter)
The Raven , by Edgar Allan Poe (trochaic octameter)
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas , by Clement Clarke Moore (anapestic tetrameter)
Because I Could Not Stop for Death , by Emily Dickinson (common meter)
Rime of the Ancient Mariner , by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (ballad)
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater , by Mother Goose (trochaic tetrameter)

What are the Elements of Prose?

As we briefly discussed above, prose should have the elements of plot in order to have any substance. The five elements of plot are:

Exposition: This is where the reader learns the basic gist of the story. The main characters are introduced, the setting is established (town, era, social class, etc.), and the reader gets an idea of what’s going on.

Rising action: This is where the reader learns the basic gist of the story. The main characters are introduced, the setting is established (town, era, social class, etc.), and the reader gets an idea of what’s going on.

Climax: Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you verbatim, “Climax is the most exciting part of the story.” But sometimes that’s hard to pinpoint when the story is an emotionally charged one that lacks as much physicality as an action-packed plot. Instead, look at the climax as the point in the story where the conflict starts to change. The main character’s view of the problem begins to look different and they might start to see the tiniest opening to work their way out of the problem they are in.

Falling action: Sometimes referred to as complications, the falling action is one or several small problems that keep the main character from reaching a resolution to their rising action.

This exemplifies falling action or complications because just when we think the main character has found a resolution to the conflict, a problem gets in their way. The rope ladder breaking is a problem, but it is small in comparison to the major conflict of the main character being at the top of a volcano when it begins to erupt.

Conclusion: This is often misrepresented as the end of the story. However, a conclusion (or resolution) is how the rising action is solved. So, while many stories near their end once the conflict is resolved, the author tends to use a few more pages or short chapters to tie up the loose ends of subplots. Where and how a conflict is resolved, and where it is placed in a story, is entirely up to the author.

Creative Writing, The University of Chicago

Advanced Poetry Workshop: Poets' Prose

Crwr 23132/43132 advanced poetry workshop: poets' prose.

“Which one of us, in his moments of ambition, has not dreamed of the miracle of a poetic prose," wrote Charles Baudelaire in Paris Spleen,"... supple enough and rugged enough to adapt itself to the lyrical impulses of the soul, the undulations of reverie, the jibes of conscience?” This genre-blurring workshop will explore elements of the history and practice of the prose poem, and other poems and texts that combine strategies, forms and gestures of prose (fiction, nonfiction, etc.) with those of poetry. We will also read texts that are difficult to classify in terms of genre. “Flash Fiction,” “Short Shorts,” the fable, the letter, the mini-essay, and the lyric essay will be examined, among others. We will discuss the literary usefulness (or lack of it) of genre and form labels. The class will be taught as a workshop: students will try their hand at writing in their choices of hybrid forms, and will be encouraged to experiment. Writers from all genres are welcome, as what we will be studying, discussing, and writing will involve the fruitful collision of literary genres.

Day/Time: Tuesday, 12:30-3:20PM

Instructor consent required. Apply via creativewriting.uchicago.edu. Attendance on the first day is mandatory.

Creative Writing Programme (In-person)
Creative Writing Programme (Online)
The Life Writing Programme (In-person)
Advanced Writing Workshops (In-person)
Advanced Poetry Workshops (In-person)
Advanced Poetry Workshops (Online)
Creative Writing Programme (Blended)

Writing Poetry (Online) 2022-2023

(20 weeks, one evening per week).

This course will boost your writing in a friendly, structured environment. It is suitable for both new and more experienced writers. In practical work guided by your tutor, you will explore the effects of techniques in published poetry and learn how to strengthen your own poetry through an understanding of craft. You will learn creative and critical skills and develop a stronger individual style.

The Move to Online Learning

The technology is now available for us to move confidently into online learning. Video conferencing allows us to maintain the interactive element we feel is crucial to successful teaching. We have discovered that in many areas it offers effective approaches to teaching beyond those available in the traditional classroom. We are also excited at the prospect of working with writers from more diverse backgrounds, physically, geographically and culturally.

In the week before the beginning of your course you will be invited to attend Zoom familiarisation sessions if you have not taken an online learning course before.

This course will:

look at a range of poetic techniques such as compression, imagery, texture, line breaks, traditional forms, rhyme and metre.
consider the value of poetry in the contemporary world and our relationships with it.
cover a variety of topics such as writing practice, sound and texture, form and metre, imagery and editing
read and discuss works by poets such as Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Bernadette Mayer, Amiri Baraka, Frank O’Hara and Liao Yiwu
discuss methods of presenting poetry including publishing, performance and mixed media

As well as considering practical aspects of writing technique and exploring them through your own writing in class, you will be asked to bring in up to 50 lines of your poetry for constructive feedback from your tutor and fellow writers. Each student will workshop poems like this twice on the course, both times receiving constructive and detailed feedback from other members of the writing group and your tutor, who will provide written comments. You will have the opportunity to hand in poetry of up to 100 lines at the end of the course. This work will be read by your tutor, annotated and returned with supportive feedback both on your strengths and on how your use of poetic techniques might be enhanced.

Your Learning Space

Each writing group on the Creative Writing Programme has its own course page on our website. Once logged in to your course you will have access to course outlines, supporting seminar notes and a Writer’s Forum where you can chat with other writers in your group. Your tutor will add materials to your course page as the course progresses. Links for your online classes will be placed on this page. To access your online class, simply click on the link provided and your Zoom class will open on your desktop where you will be able to see your tutor and the other members of your group.

It is now a standard requirement that writers on writing programmes use computers for communication and the production of work. This has become more important now that online learning is being used more extensively. Writers should ensure that they have access to a desktop computer with a video camera and good internet connection.

What is required of me?

You will need to be able to make a six-month commitment. Over these six months you will need to organise a minimum of six hours per week for reading and the development of writing activities and exercises: this includes seminar time, writing time and reading time.

How are seminars structured?

Each weekly online or face to face seminar runs for two hours. Seminars will include a mix of discussion of work you have written whilst on the course and the discussion of published texts, group work, tutor led feedback and taught sessions.

Programme Length: One year in 20 taught sessions. Maximum group size 15

Time: tuesdays 6.30 pm- 8.30pm, venue: online, term dates:.

Autumn: 3rd October – 16th December (Reading Week 24th – 28th October)

Spring: 9th January – 24th March (Reading Week 13th – 17th February)

Entry requirements : No formal qualifications required

Programme tutor: verity spott.

Net price: £280

Total: £350

Fees can be paid in full or at the beginning of each term. There is a £20 additional admin fee for the Autumn Term if fees are paid per term:

Autumn Term: £195 (incl. VAT)

Spring/Summer Term: £175 (incl. VAT)

To enrol: click on one of the payment links at the bottom of this page

Please ensure that you have read our terms and conditions . for further information on this course or our other programmes contact.

Mark Slater [email protected]

What poetry can bring to prose

I. What is a Prose?

Prose is just non-verse writing. Pretty much anything other than poetry counts as prose: this article, that textbook in your backpack, the U.S. Constitution, Harry Potter – it’s all prose. The basic defining feature of prose is its lack of line breaks:

In verse, the line ends

when the writer wants it to, but in prose

you just write until you run out of room and then start a new line.

Unlike most other literary devices , prose has a negative definition : in other words, it’s defined by what it isn’t rather than by what it is . (It isn’t verse.) As a result, we have to look pretty closely at verse in order to understand what prose is.

II. Types of Prose

Prose usually appears in one of these three forms.

You’re probably familiar with essays . An essay makes some kind of argument about a specific question or topic. Essays are written in prose because it’s what modern readers are accustomed to.

b. Novels/short stories

When you set out to tell a story in prose, it’s called a novel or short story (depending on length). Stories can also be told through verse, but it’s less common nowadays. Books like Harry Potter and the Fault in Our Stars are written in prose.

c. Nonfiction books

If it’s true, it’s nonfiction. Essays are a kind of nonfiction, but not the only kind. Sometimes, a nonfiction book is just written for entertainment (e.g. David Sedaris’s nonfiction comedy books), or to inform (e.g. a textbook), but not to argue. Again, there’s plenty of nonfiction verse, too, but most nonfiction is written in prose.

III. Examples of Prose

The Bible is usually printed in prose form, unlike the Islamic Qur’an, which is printed in verse. This difference suggests one of the differences between the two ancient cultures that produced these texts: the classical Arabs who first wrote down the Qur’an were a community of poets, and their literature was much more focused on verse than on stories. The ancient Hebrews, by contrast, were more a community of storytellers than poets, so their holy book was written in a more narrative prose form.

Although poetry is almost always written in verse, there is such a thing as “prose poetry.” Prose poetry lacks line breaks, but still has the rhythms of verse poetry and focuses on the sound of the words as well as their meaning. It’s the same as other kinds of poetry except for its lack of line breaks.

IV. The Importance of Prose

Prose is ever-present in our lives, and we pretty much always take it for granted. It seems like the most obvious, natural way to write. But if you stop and think, it’s not totally obvious. After all, people often speak in short phrases with pauses in between – more like lines of poetry than the long, unbroken lines of prose. It’s also easier to read verse, since it’s easier for the eye to follow a short line than a long, unbroken one.

For all of these reasons, it might seem like verse is actually a more natural way of writing! And indeed, we know from archaeological digs that early cultures usually wrote in verse rather than prose. The dominance of prose is a relatively modern trend.

So why do we moderns prefer prose? The answer is probably just that it’s more efficient! Without line breaks, you can fill the entire page with words, meaning it takes less paper to write the same number of words. Before the industrial revolution, paper was very expensive, and early writers may have given up on poetry because it was cheaper to write prose.

V. Examples of Prose in Literature

Although Shakespeare was a poet, his plays are primarily written in prose. He loved to play around with the difference between prose and verse, and if you look closely you can see the purpose behind it: the “regular people” in his plays usually speak in prose – their words are “prosaic” and therefore don’t need to be elevated. Heroic and noble characters , by contrast, speak in verse to highlight the beauty and importance of what they have to say.

Flip open Moby-Dick to a random page, and you’ll probably find a lot of prose. But there are a few exceptions: short sections written in verse. There are many theories as to why Herman Melville chose to write his book this way, but it probably was due in large part to Shakespeare. Melville was very interested in Shakespeare and other classic authors who used verse more extensively, and he may have decided to imitate them by including a few verse sections in his prose novel.

VI. Examples of Prose in Pop Culture

Philosophy has been written in prose since the time of Plato and Aristotle. If you look at a standard philosophy book, you’ll find that it has a regular paragraph structure, but no creative line breaks like you’d see in poetry. No one is exactly sure why this should be true – after all, couldn’t you write a philosophical argument with line breaks in it? Some philosophers, like Nietzsche, have actually experimented with this. But it hasn’t really caught on, and the vast majority of philosophy is still written in prose form.

In the Internet age, we’re very familiar with prose – nearly all blogs and emails are written in prose form. In fact, it would look pretty strange if this were not the case!

Imagine if you had a professor

who wrote class emails

in verse form, with odd

line breaks in the middle

of the email.

VII. Related Terms

Verse is the opposite of prose: it’s the style of writing

that has line breaks.

Most commonly used in poetry, it tends to have rhythm and rhyme but doesn’t necessarily have these features. Anything with artistic line breaks counts as verse.

18 th -century authors saw poetry as a more elevated form of writing – it was a way of reaching for the mysterious and the heavenly. In contrast, prose was for writing about ordinary, everyday topics. As a result, the adjective “prosaic” (meaning prose-like) came to mean “ordinary, unremarkable.”

Prosody is the pleasing sound of words when they come together. Verse and prose can both benefit from having better prosody, since this makes the writing more enjoyable to a reader.

List of Terms

Alliteration
Amplification
Anachronism
Anthropomorphism
Antonomasia
APA Citation
Aposiopesis
Autobiography
Bildungsroman
Characterization
Circumlocution
Cliffhanger
Comic Relief
Connotation
Deus ex machina
Deuteragonist
Doppelganger
Double Entendre
Dramatic irony
Equivocation
Extended Metaphor
Figures of Speech
Flash-forward
Foreshadowing
Intertextuality
Juxtaposition
Literary Device
Malapropism
Onomatopoeia
Parallelism
Pathetic Fallacy
Personification
Point of View
Polysyndeton
Protagonist
Red Herring
Rhetorical Device
Rhetorical Question
Science Fiction
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Synesthesia
Turning Point
Understatement
Urban Legend
Verisimilitude
Essay Guide
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Writers' Treasure

Effective writing advice for aspiring writers

Creative Writing 101

Creative writing is any form of writing which is written with the creativity of mind: fiction writing, poetry writing, creative nonfiction writing and more. The purpose is to express something, whether it be feelings, thoughts, or emotions.

Rather than only giving information or inciting the reader to make an action beneficial to the writer, creative writing is written to entertain or educate someone, to spread awareness about something or someone, or to express one’s thoughts.

There are two kinds of creative writing: good and bad, effective and ineffective. Bad, ineffective creative writing cannot make any impression on the reader. It won’t achieve its purpose.

So whether you’re a novelist, a poet, a short-story writer, an essayist, a biographer or an aspiring beginner, you want to improve your craft. The question is: how?

When you write great fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, amazing things can happen. Readers can’t put it down. The work you wrote becomes a bestseller. It becomes famous. But you have to reach to that level… first .

The best way to increase your proficiency in creative writing is to write, write compulsively, but it doesn’t mean write whatever you want. There are certain things you should know first… it helps to start with the right foot.

To do exactly that, here we have a beginners’ guide from Writers’ Treasure on the subject:

An Introduction to Creative Writing
How to Get Started in Creative Writing in Just Three Steps
Creative Writing vs. Technical Writing
Fiction Writing 101: The Elements of Stories
Poetry Writing: Forms and Terms Galore
Creative Non-Fiction: What is it?
Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Creative Writing
Common Mistakes Made by Creative Writers

For novelists: do you want to write compelling opening chapters?

Are you an aspiring novelist? Will your novel see the light of day? For that, you will need to make the first chapter of your story as compelling as possible. Otherwise, readers won’t even pick up your novel. That chapter can be the make-or-break point that decides whether your novel is published or not. It’s because good editors know how you write from the first three pages… or sometimes even from the opening lines.

To solve this problem, I created a five-part tutorial on Writing Compelling Opening Chapters . It outlines why you need to write a compelling opening chapter, my personal favourite way of beginning it, what should be told and shown in it, general dos and don’ts, and what you need to do after having written it. Check it out for more.

Need more writing tips?

Sometimes you reach that stage when you outgrow the beginner stage of writing but feel that you’re not yet an expert. If I just described you, no worries– Writers’ Treasure’s writing tips are here. Whether you want to make your writing more readable, more irresistible, more professional, we’ve got you covered. So check out our writing tips , and be on your way to fast track your success.

I offer writing, editing and proofreading , as well as website creation services. I’ve been in this field for seven years, and I know the tools of the trade. I’ve seen the directions where the writing industry is going, the changes, the new platforms. Get your work done through me, and get fast and efficient service. Get a quote .

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Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)

Creative writing (2022 - 2024).

The minor in creative writing offers undergraduates the opportunity to sharpen their skills while exploring the full range of literary genres, including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. All students must complete 16 points of coursework in creative writing in order to fulfill the requirements of the minor.

The introductory workshop Creative Writing: Introduction to Prose and Poetry (CRWRI-UA 815, 4 points) or the study away course Creative Writing (CRWRI-UA 9815, 4 points) is generally the required foundational course, to be followed by 12 additional points from the program's CRWRI-UA course offerings.

However, students who begin their minor by taking one of the program's 8-point summer intensives—Writers in New York (CRWRI-UA 818, 819, or 835), Writers in Paris (CRWRI-UA 9818 or 9819), or Writers in Florence (CRWRI-UA 9828 or 9829)—are not required to take the introductory workshop (CRWRI-UA 815, CRWRI-UA 9815, or equivalent). Following completion of one of these 8-point intensives, students may take advanced coursework in the same genre as their summer intensive and/or move directly into an intermediate workshop in an alternative genre. Students may also repeat an 8-credit summer intensive to complete the 16-credit minor. Intermediate and advanced workshops may be taken three times for credit.

The creative writing minor must be completed with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (C). No credit toward the minor is granted for grades of C- or lower, although such grades will be computed into the grade point average of the minor, as well as into the overall grade point average. No course to be counted toward the minor may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.

To declare the minor : Students in the College of Arts and Science may declare a creative writing minor by completing the minor declaration form on the program's website. Students in other NYU schools may declare their minors on Albert or as directed by their home schools. The program recommends that all creative writing minors contact the undergraduate programs manager in the semester prior to graduation to verify that their minor declaration is on record and that they have fulfilled (or have enrolled in) all of the appropriate courses for the minor.

Policy on Course Substitutions

Students may petition to apply a maximum of one outside course toward the minor, either as the introductory prerequisite (equivalent to CRWRI-UA 815 or 9815) or as an elective. An outside course is any NYU creative writing course without a CRWRI-UA rubric. To petition to substitute an outside course, students must complete the course substitution petition form (available on the program's website) and provide the course syllabus (as described on the petition form). The undergraduate programs manager will review the submitted syllabus to verify course level and determine substitution eligibility. Students must petition for course substitution prior to registration.

If the program pre-approves a non-NYU course for substitution, it can only be counted toward the minor if 1. the Office of the Associate Dean for Students in CAS has also approved the course credit for transfer, and 2. the student receives a grade of C or better.

Students wishing to begin the creative writing minor while studying away at an NYU site should register for Creative Writing (CRWRI-UA 9815) or, if studying away in the summer, for one of the 8-point intensives offered in Paris and Florence (CRWRI-UA 9818, 9819, 9828, or 9829). These courses are not considered outside courses and will automatically be counted toward the creative writing minor. All other creative writing courses taken away require a petition for substitution and are subject to approval by the program.

ENGL 2307 Introduction to Creative Writing - Prose

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SoulGalaxyWolf Active Member

Poetry vs. prose.

Discussion in ' The Craft of Writing Poetry ' started by SoulGalaxyWolf , Jan 21, 2019 .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I always preferred prose over poetry. It's not like I don't like poetry. I enjoy reading poetry and how it could be lyrical, narrate a story, or something insightful. I just want to know other's opinion for poetry and their love for it. It would be neat to know some people's favorite poems or poets, and some books of poetry that they like. I'm recently learning about meter in poems. I never knew about that, and I was thinking to incorporate some of the things I learned into poetry I will write in the future. Any insights would be greatly appreciated

Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I'm not particularly fond of Poetry, but I do rather like her stepsister Lyrics. It's good to know both. There are times I need to compose a passage that is more lyrical in nature, and listening to songs or reading poetry help me set the tempo. “I’m so relieved my prayers were answered and you’ve come back to us, but it can’t be safe for you, not the way things are now. My uncle is very worried you’ll be found out.” “Rose, what do you believe in?” “What do you mean?” “It’s a simple enough question. Indulge me — what rules your stars?” Valerie caressed the locket that hung from her neck, rubbing it between her thumb and forefinger, then in a lilty, singsong voice, began anew. “Are you moonstruck by the pagan ways, searching the constellations for omens and boiling entrails on Solstice Eve to curry favor with the goat god? Or are you smitten by the meddling gods of antiquity, we creatures great and small moved like pieces on a chessboard, mere amusements in a parlor game? Perchance you’ve met the new god who tinkers not in the affairs of Man, a convenient deity invented by a cult of impotent men that meet in secret and plot great mischief? Such men put their faith in divine reason, but do they tally the cost? No, I think not. I know the God you pray to, the Lord of our hopes and fears, his Son, our Savior — ” Valerie arched her back and thrust her arms out, face and palms lifted heavenward in mock crucifixion. “We try best we can to walk in his footsteps. But these are bad times. They’ve made it a crime to mention Him in a certain light, and now, God leaves us only breadcrumbs to follow.”

Potato Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); Emily Dickinson is my favorite poet but some people think her stuff is a bit heady or sort of ridged but I like it.

OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); SoulGalaxyWolf said: ↑ Any insights would be greatly appreciated Click to expand...

Daphne Thissen New Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I've never gotten myself to like "old" poetry, but that's probably because I can't quite relate. Of course some of the more well-known ones are the exception. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (Dylan Thomas), Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep (Mary Elizabeth Frye), and I Carry Your Heart With Me (Cummings). No, I sometimes still consider myself a Tumblr-kid. Where a different kind of poetry emerged. The brutal kind, written by millenials who were too young to know the things they knew, while at the same time being too young to know the things they think they knew. I found a poem on Tumblr, Mouthful of Forevers , by Clementine von Radics . I bought her book and I think she's my favorite poet now. I think "modern" poetry in general is my favorite. Simply because I can relate and because the prose is so different.

thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I used to have trouble understanding a lot of the famous poets. Often times, I had no clue what message they were trying to get across. I found that starting with anthologies was the easiest way for me to approach poetry. Anthologies usually do a good job of having informative notes. Another mistake I made was to read through a poem quickly and/or not rereading it. All this has changed, however. After many, many years of studying poetry, it's something I read quite often now. It just takes some dedication and a willingness to learn. Finally, in my experience, English classes in school don't spend a lot of time on poetry, and I don't think the general public appreciates poetry as much as novels (and they don't think it's as sexy). But I've read that poetry book sales have been going up, which is a good sign.

OurJud Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I like poetry I can understand. I’ve no time for the stuff that leaves me bewildered (which is the majority of it if I’m honest). For that reason my favourite poet is William Carlos Williams.

jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I am so very VERY picky about poetry—to the extent that I claim I don't like it ...which isn't actually true. If a poet gives me that moment, that one insight that makes me go, "Yes, that's IT—I never thought of it that way before!" then I usually like that poem. But self-absorbed poets who witter on and on about their personal lives and loves, or who try too hard to be clever are not my thing at all. I tend to fall off the branch fairly quickly. Especially at poetry readings where they often adopt a drone-y poetry-reading tone. Aaargh. Just read the damn thing in a normal voice! Spare us the lugubrious crap.... That being said, I do have a few favourite poets. A few are dead. Carl Sandburg—the energy in his poetry lifts me right off my figurative feet. Norman McCaig—whose insights into parts of Scotland I particularly love are expressed with the kind of precision that takes me there. Norman's poetry often carries a little sting in the tail as well, which makes me regard the subject of the poem differently from how I saw it before. My favourite living poet is Scottish poet Robin Robertson, whose book, The Wrecking Light, took me totally by surprise. I galloped through it, and then actually went straight to the front and read the whole thing again, all in one day. Its penultimate poem, "At Roane Head," is a chiller, once read, never forgotten. A great poet has the ability to think outside the box, to look at some ordinary thing and see it as significant or unusual. That's a storytelling gift I would love to have. I don't have that instinctive gift, but I certainly appreciate people who do.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); jannert said: ↑ Especially at poetry readings where they often adopt a drone-y poetry-reading tone. Aaargh. Just read the damn thing in a normal voice! Spare us the lugubrious crap.... Click to expand...

matwoolf Banned Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); What’s wrong w that, gramps?

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); matwoolf said: ↑ What’s wrong w that, gramps? Click to expand...

peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I don't get poetry but I love to read it. It's very verb conscious and handles metaphors like a dream. That's mainly what I use it for to help me construct better descriptions and build towards an emotional 'punchline' or metaphor. I don't have a lot of favorites - anything that catches my eye I'll read but Jill Hoffman's Mink Coat really made me start to see poetry in a different light.

Muller New Member

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); Poetry is a different beast than prose. And yet, like prose, there are many different beasts within poetry. I think it's just a matter of finding what you like.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); peachalulu said: ↑ It's very verb conscious Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); [tapping from bed throne] ...but when you say; ‘William Carlos Williams, innit...’ ...it is like a circular argument, Trumpian, or back to school... Surely, when you hit your 20s or later on, you discover something more challenging/engrossing or curious or more difficult than ‘Orwell said it all’ or ‘Winston Churchill’ or ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); Now you see, I don’t really know what that means. Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); matwoolf said: ↑ [tapping from bed throne] ...but when you say; ‘William Carlos Williams, innit...’ ...it is like a circular argument, Trumpian, or back to school... Surely, when you hit your 20s or later on, you discover something more challenging/engrossing or curious or more difficult than ‘Orwell said it all’ or ‘Winston Churchill’ or ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’? Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); I was being a pompous ass lovely @Jud .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_55baf91c5d264b201d6348eaaf23a065'); }); A poem that, for me, typifies poetry. Just one of many examples. Have You Seen But a Bright Lilly Grow by Ben Jonson. Have you seen but a bright lily grow Before rude hands have touched it? Have you marked but the fall of snow Before the soil hath smutched it? Have you felt the wool of beaver, Or swan's down ever? Or have smelt o' the bud o' the brier, Or the nard in the fire? Or have tasted the bag of the bee? O so white, O so soft, O so sweet is she!

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The Human Brain Is Hardwired for Poetry

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Key Takeaways

Ordinary speech and prose affect the human brain but not in the same way as poetry, which activates specific areas of the brain that recognize its rhymes and rhythms and contemplate its imagery and layered meanings.
The brain's reaction to poetry indicates a deep, intuitive connection to verse, suggesting that appreciation of poetry is within our neurological structure.
Reading or listening to poetry not only stimulates emotional and aesthetic responses but also enhances cognitive functions like flexible thinking and the capacity to understand complex, multiple meanings, which can be beneficial in everyday decision-making.

Whether it's Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses" or Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird," there's something about reading or hearing a great poem that stimulates our minds, moving us to ponder the world from a new angle. And from a neuroscientific point of view, that's no accident.

In recent years, researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other sophisticated tools to study how the human brain reacts to poetry. They've discovered, among other things, that the brain seems to be wired to recognize the rhymes and rhythms that poets use, and differentiate them from ordinary speech or prose. They've also found that contemplating poetic imagery and the multiple layers of meanings in poems activates specific areas of the brain — some of the same areas, in fact, that help us to interpret our everyday reality.

One reason poetry has such a potent effect upon us is that our brains seem to be wired to recognize it. In one newly published study in the journal Frontiers of Psychology, researchers at the UK's Bangor University read an assortment of sentences to a group of Welsh-speaking subjects. Some of the sentences conformed to the intricate poetic construction rules of Cynghanedd, a traditional form of Welsh poetry, while others didn't follow those rules. Though the subjects didn't know anything about Cynghanedd, they nevertheless categorized as "good" the sentences that followed the rules as compared to other sentences. The researchers also hooked up the subjects to EEG devices, and observed a distinctive burst of electrical activity in the subjects' brains that occurred in the fraction of a second after hearing the last word of a poetic line.

"I believe that our results argue for a profoundly intuitive origin of poetry," says Bangor psychology professor Guillaume Thierry, via email. "Poetry appears to be 'built in,' it is like a profound intuition, every human being is an unconscious poet."

Poetry also seems to affect specific areas of the brain, depending upon the degree of emotion and the complexity of the language and ideas. In a study published in 2013 in Journal of Consciousness Studies, researchers at the UK's University of Exeter had participants lay inside an fMRI scanner while they read various texts on a screen. The selections ranged from deliberately dull prose — such as a section from a heating equipment installation manual — and passages from novels to samples from various poems , a few of which the subjects had identified as their favorites. The subjects had to rate the texts on qualities such as how much emotion they aroused, and how "literary," or difficult to contemplate, they were.

The researchers found that the higher the degree of emotiveness that subjects assigned to a sample, the more activation that the scans showed in areas on the right side of the brain — many of the same ones identified in a 2001 study as being activated by music that moved listeners to feel chills or shivers down their spines. The examples rated as more "literary," in contrast, lit up areas mostly on the left side of the brain, including the basal ganglia , which are involved both in regulating movement and processing challenging sentences. The subjects' favorite poems weakly activated a network in the brain associated with reading, but strongly activated the inferior parietal lobes, an area associated with recognition.

"Favorite poems appeared to be 'remembered' as much as or rather than 'read," Adam Zeman, an Exeter professor of cognitive and behavioral neurology, explains in an email.

Yet another recent experiment, detailed in a 2015 article in the neuroscience journal Cortex, University of Liverpool researchers used an fMRI to scan the brains of subjects while they read various passages of poetry and prose, in an effort to find what parts of the brain were involved in "literary awareness" — the capacity to think about and find meaning in a complex text. In half of the examples, the final line was an unexpected twist that Philip Davis, a professor and director of the school's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, refers to as an "a-ha moment." (One example: William Wordsworth's 1799 poem "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways," about a recluse who died in seclusion, in which the narrator drops a hint that he may have been her unrequited lover.) The subjects rated the passages on how poetic they seemed and whether or not the last lines led them to reappraise the meaning — a measure of literary awareness.

"We believe that this is the first fMRI that examines the unfolding effects of moving from line to line, and the consequences in terms of what we call literary awareness as compared to more automatic and literal-minded processing of meaning," says Davis in an email. "The poetic work triggered different parts of the brain related to non-automatic processing of meaning, leading to increased lively activation of mind and a simultaneous sense of psychological reward."

But the research also suggests that reading or listening to poetry is useful for something besides just rousing our emotions and elevating our souls. The same mental skills that we exercise in struggling to understand T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock " — i.e., flexible thinking and the ability to ponder multiple meanings — also help us to navigate unpredictable events and make choices in our everyday lives.

"The calling into activation of literary awareness may have a significant effect in challenging our default mind-set," Davis says. He thinks that if more people read poetry and got accustomed to pondering meaning, "it would make a difference to their capacity to think with more alertness to excite surprise and change."

Emily Dickinson wrote a poem about the brain often quoted by neuroscientists, as Evan Thompson noted in this 2015 Psychology Today article .

Frequently Asked Questions

How does poetry influence emotional intelligence, can poetry reading improve cognitive abilities in children.

Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article:

Lord Byron maintained his poet’s look with a strict diet -- but it was nutritionally really lacking.

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Artist Profile: Kate Greene on Writing as Discovery

Kate Greene is a poet, essayist, and author of “Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars."

Speaking via Zoom, Kate Greene sat in front of a healthy houseplant, a print of a flower, and a volcanic map of Mauna Loa. Her apartment provided much insight into her mind: She absorbs and engages with the world around her.

Greene is a poet, essayist, and author of memoir “Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars” — but it’s not surprising that she was initially a physicist. Greene blurs the inward with the outward, the artistic with the empirical, and her poetry with her prose. She observes, explores, and experiments.

“I love discovery,” Greene said in a conversation with The Harvard Crimson.

Her simple, naturalistic setting — adorned by the flower, volcano, and houseplant — echoed her simple yet complex approach to discovery in her work.

Because Greene began her writing career as a journalist, her writing was initially motivated by deadlines and urgency. Now a poet and creative nonfiction writer, she approaches her work by “unearthing feelings” in a “very bodily” way.

“Writing for me, I do think, is pretty somatic,” Greene said. “I honor bodily feelings in my process.”

Her writing grows organically from within her, then extends into the world around her. Her poetry and prose stem from, chronicle, and respond to the moments in which they are written. She describes her creative work as a “record” of its time — notably echoing a primary objective of journalistic and scientific writing.

Before Greene was a journalist, she was a laser physicist. Before that, she was a science kid.

“I wanted to be an astrophysicist at age nine because I learned about black holes, and thought, ‘yeah, that is where it’s at,’” Greene said, drawing out the “yeah” like a wide-eyed nine-year-old.

Religion was a central concept in her childhood home. As a result, she was drawn to “mystery and the unknown,” which, for her, meant growing curious about the natural world and drawing connections between theology and science.

Greene’s curiosity and her ability to draw connections to science permeate her writing, which is evident in her poetry published in SUITE earlier this month.

In “REMEMBER,” she writes, “I’ll read you equations from this / electrodynamics text / we’ll make them our own / to remember forever.” Another poem, “EASY WOOL SWEATER,” uses astronomy figuratively, describing “a sweet-faced cat / floating toward venus.” The poem entitled “A FLYING SAUCER CLOUD RELIQUARIES THE MOON” does not explicitly mention outer space, yet the outer-space title provides valuable thematic framing for the poem’s content.

None of the six poems are about physics — they’re about people and relationships, intimacy and regret, aspiring and longing — but Greene’s physicist mind enriches all of them in concrete, abstract, or perplexing ways.

“It’s my intellectual landscape,” she said, discussing the reason she brings science into her writing. “I studied it for so long. It’s like the stuff that you populate your brain with: It’s always there, ready to come out.”

Referencing Jack Spicer’s metaphor about Martians entering a person’s brain and rearranging the furniture, Greene said that she doesn’t control the position of science in her mind.

“You’re not quite in control of how the stuff that you’ve dumped into your psyche over the course of your life comes out when you open up to the space of writing a poem,” she said.

Greene took time to contemplate her profound yet humble thoughts as she formed them, while laughing at the occasional funny remark and at times, laughing at herself.

She chuckled upon mentioning the “little nonsense asides” in the margins of her notes as a journalist. She said that she only realized later in life that her “asides” had “poetic potential.” After years of writing explanatory stories, she found poetry liberating. Unlike physics and journalism, poetry does not require explanation.

“It’s a site of great relief to not have to explain and to live in sort of a confusion, or a strange metaphorical land where the sense-making happens — or not,” Greene said.

“A poem never has to say it’s sorry for not explaining itself,” she continued. “I find that is a very important place for me to spend some time, especially after all those years of explaining things — and [explaining] myself.”

Greene’s poetic freedom influences her prose. Her memoir, “Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars,” recounts her time as the crew writer and second-in-command on NASA’s first HI-SEAS project, a four-month simulated Mars mission. She wrote the memoir in “an extremely poetic space.” As a result, she finds that it shifted away from her explanatory writing.

“It loosened up the rigidity of the structure of prose,” Greene said.

“[Poems] come from the site of extreme attention to the internal for me, and where my attention moves,” she continued. “Structurally, the ‘Mars’ book was written from that space, which is a similar space for me as poems.”

The memoir is organized by fundamental aspects of life — including solitude, diversity, boredom, and food — instead of chronological order. Considering its innovative structure, “Mars” illustrates Greene’s poeticism.

“Mars” also captures Greene’s integrative approach to writing. In one chapter, she explains Robonaut 2 and the issue of legs in microgravity; then, she writes that “it can feel almost repulsive to have a body, the truth of it, so greedy.” In the introduction, a niche anecdote about “returning to Earth” produces a universally relevant conclusion: “Sometimes leaving is the only way to know it was ever home in the first place.”

Through scientific details and unique memories, Greene artfully unveils mysteries of human experience. Fittingly, her method of writing “Mars” was rooted in discovery.

“I like serendipitous discovery and connection,” Greene said, explaining her process of writing the memoir. “Not that I don’t do research, but I honor the impulse first, and then I will look around to see what’s there, and that might spur other things — but by and large, I love discovery.”

“Mars” is poetic, but it’s nonfiction prose. It’s a personal narrative, but it’s also cultural criticism. It’s about science, but it’s really about humanness. Greene’s work transcends genre. Again referencing the natural world, she said that she is interested in how “seeds,” or genres, “inter-pollinate” one another.

She reflected on the stretch of history when “a writer was a writer,” a time when most writers were simultaneously novelists, journalists, poets, and essayists, and the genre of writers’ work was less prescriptive.

“If you had a way with words, and you also had access and could see things, whatever that means, then you just wrote it,” she said.

Greene clearly values reaching across genres. On her bookshelf, she keeps poetry by Brian Blanchfield, Audre Lorde, and Anne Carson, all of whom are also essayists. Her shelf also holds nonfiction by Wayne Koestenbaum and Jack Spicer, who are more known for their poetry.

Through poetic prose that combines physical science with interior experience, Greene’s interdisciplinary writing continues in her current project: an essay collection about the connection between artificial intelligence and queerness.

“It definitely is an interrogation of the self and the other, and that sort of dichotomy. It’s like a personal essay, but it’s looking inside, and it’s looking out broader, kind of like the ‘Mars’ book,” Greene said. “But with more sex.”

Combining technology, queerness, introspection, extrospection, and sex, Greene is not afraid of fusing disparate ideas. She consistently finds oppositions to harmonize and curiosities to scrutinize. She pushes the limits of possibility. Through the written word, Kate Greene embraces discovery.

—Staff writer Vivienne N. Germain can be reached at [email protected] .

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No directory results. check spelling or press "enter" to search ., there was an error. press enter to search google, download or view full directories: personnel and departments . request changes to this directory ., creative writing contest winners announced at national poetry month celebration.

By Linda Brown

The WNMU J. Cloyd Miller Library and the Humanities Department held the annual National Poetry Month celebration on Thursday, April 4, 2024. The winners of the WNMU Humanities Creative Writing Contest were announced at the event. Winning first place in both the poetry and prose categories was English major Brandon Lee Miller. Tying for second place in the poetry category were English major Ariana Zuniga and art major Felix Gutierrez. Winning second place in the prose category was art major Gabe Farley.

Presenters at the celebration included Miller Library Director Samantha Johnson, Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education/Spanish Gregory Robinson Guerra, Assistant Professor of English Heather Frankland, students from Frankland’s English 097 class, the WNMU Writer in Residence, JJ Amaworo Wilson, Outreach and Instruction Librarian Maddy Nittmo and the former poet laureates of Grant County.

Miller’s winning poem, “The Joys of Cycling,” focuses of the exhilaration of riding a bicycle. “I have been an avid cyclist for roughly seven years,” said Miller, “and I wanted to write a poem that summarized what my experience has been. Aside from being my main source of transport, I enjoy riding around town, particularly in the evenings. Silver City is a nice town to cruise in, with all the mountains, trees, and neighborhoods.”

Miller said it felt surreal to win the contest. “I never thought I would even become a writer,” he said. “When I first started this process back in 2017, it wasn’t a hobby or anything. It was therapy. I had a lot of fears and worries that I didn’t know how to express, so I bought a pen and journal from Walmart one day, wrote my first entry that night, and the rest is history.”

Miller added that his goal now is to be a professional writer, and he said that the contest affirmed his decision. “This contest gave me the chance to expose more of my material,” he said, “To be the winner of a writing contest, to be first place in both categories no less, is a testament to how far I’ve come. It feels like I’ve earned my place.”

Zuniga’s award-winning poem, “Ode to Praise,” also stems from her real-life experiences, especially her passion for music. “Music has always had such a massive place in my life and I cannot go a day without it,” she said. “Ever since I was a little kid, my mom would play popular music from her era and my brother introduced me to a lot of older songs as well.”

Like Miller, Zuniga said she felt affirmed by the award. “To have my writing recognized is an absolute honor especially because I wrote that ode of praise when I was in high school,” she said, “It also made me realize that maybe I’m not such a bad writer.”

All of the contest-winning works will be published in a forthcoming edition of the student-led journal The Maverick. Excerpts from each work are printed below.

From “The Joys of Cycling”

By Brandon Lee Miller

There is something about the way the wind passes by,

The adrenaline that course through my veins,

The exhilaration of drifting in my vessel,

Grazing through graveled pastures,

Journeying through all manner of twists and turns,

Highs and lows, ups and downs,

To the top of the highest hills,

All the way down to the lowest valleys

Of trenches, rivers, creeks, and troughs

From “Ode to Praise”

By Ariana Zuniga

If it’s to last

The getting of knowledge

Should be tangible

It should have a smell

As you lie on the bathroom floor

Seeing the world

Without your eyes

From “Realities Escape”

By Felix Gutierrez

Jordan grasp for the glasses and locks them in place. A black hole in darkness where light does not escape is what greets him. Turn on, he says, with the click of a button. Not once but twice the button is pressed, then he holds on to it with the slightest of pressure. Before his eyes the light swirls on. His hands flick up with excitement. He is ready to be swallowed into color and bright glow.

His avatar, his body has changed, wings crawl along his back as he shifts his eyes from side to side. He gets used to the shift in reality, as he moves with one step forward to this new world that he has not seen in quite a time. What he is welcomed to before him are bright skies with floating mountains and a soft tune from singing foothills.

From “Kid in a Candy Story”

I got to go to a casino for the first time in my life. I went with my father. It was an Indian casino on a reservation so there were a lot of natives and Latinos. We figured we stop there to make some extra cash, show me something different. I did say I want to enjoy life. I didn’t want to miss my chance. So, I went in. I signed up for my card and got $20 worth of credits. We walked around and approached the nearest slot machine. I gazed at the rainbow of gold and neon. All I can think to myself is, “This is like an adult Chuck E’ Cheese.”

From “Floor Time

By Gabe Farley

I am myself from the past.

I am lying on the floor in my unfinished living room of my apartment, and my body hurts. My lungs hurt and my chest muscles are sore. I inhale. This room is a mess of partially finished construction projects and tools. Strewn clothing and dust covers everything, including my small bookshelf and coffee table. My reality is folding on itself as I lie here, but not in a dramatic way. I am not perceiving time as I feel like I should be. I should be going about my day like any other person, like someone who worked through their day, had time to go to the store to pick up groceries, plan out dinner with their partner or family, leisure time, bed time. But here where I am lying, my arms flat against the cold, flaky linoleum floor, my face laying sideways in a thin layer of concrete dust, time isn’t working well for me. I want the minutes to pass in a measurable way; a predictable, logical method. Where one minute takes the same amount of time as the minute before, the same for the previous. But I can’t make that happen.

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Writing Contests, Grants & Awards

See Recent Winners
View the Submission Calendar

The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

Whiting Foundation

Creative nonfiction grants.

Up to 10 grants of $40,000 each are given annually for creative nonfiction works-in-progress to enable writers to complete their books. Creative nonfiction writers under...

Poetry and Short Story Awards

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...

Australian Book Review

Elizabeth jolley short story prize.

A prize of $6,000 AUD (approximately $3,931) is given annually for a short story. A second-place prize of $4,000 AUD (approximately $2,621) and a third-place prize of $2,500...

Poetry International

Poetry international prize.

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International is given annually for a single poem. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any...

Short Story Contest

A prize of $1,000 is given biannually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 1,001 to 7,500 words with a $15 entry fee...

Tadpole Press

100-word writing contest.

A prize of $2,000 is given biannually for a work of flash poetry or prose. Manuscripts written in a language other than English are accepted when accompanied by an English...

Chapbook Prize

A prize of $1,000, publication by Oversound , and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Diana Khoi Nguyen will judge. Using only the online submission...

Autumn House Press

Nonfiction prize.

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given annually for a book of nonfiction. The winner also receives a $1,500 travel and publicity grant. Clifford...

University of Iowa Press

Iowa poetry prize.

Publication by University of Iowa Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 150 pages with a $20...

University of Pittsburgh Press

Agnes lynch starrett poetry prize.

A prize of $5,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a...

Marsh Hawk Press

Poetry prize.

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Marsh Hawk Press is given annually for a poetry collection. John Keene will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a...

Inlandia Institute

Hillary gravendyk prizes.

Two prizes of $1,000 each, publication by the Inlandia Institute, and 20 author copies are given annually for a poetry collection by a U.S. resident and a poetry collection by...

Tupelo Press

Berkshire prize.

A prize of $3,000, publication by Tupelo Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. English translations of works originally written...

Ghost Story

Supernatural fiction award.

A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website and in the 21st Century Ghost Stories anthology series is given biannually for a short story with a...

Winning Writers

Tom howard/john h. reid fiction & essay contest.

Two prizes of $3,500 each, two gift certificates for two-year memberships to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually...

McGill University

Montreal international poetry prize.

A prize of $20,000 Canadian (approximately $14,807) and publication in the Montreal Poetry Prize anthology is given biennially for a poem. A.E. Stallings will judge, and...

Backwaters Press

Backwaters prize in poetry.

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Backwaters Press, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, is given annually for a poetry collection. An honorable...

Noemi Press

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Noemi Press is given annually for a book of poetry. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of...

Breakwater Review

Peseroff prize.

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Breakwater Review ...

Atlanta Review

International poetry contest.

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Atlanta Review is given annually for a single poem. Using only the online submission system, submit up to five poems of any length...

Ashland Poetry Press

Richard snyder memorial publication prize.

A prize of $1,000, publication by Ashland Poetry Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Matthew Rohrer will judge. Using only the online...

High Desert Museum

Waterston desert writing prize.

A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a work of nonfiction that recognizes “the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and the human narrative...

Writer’s Digest

Annual writing competition.

A prize of $5,000, an interview in Writer’s Digest , and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference is given annually for a single poem, a short...

Ploughshares

Emerging writer’s contest.

Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Each winner also receives a...

Academy of American Poets

Lenore marshall poetry prize.

A prize of $25,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a living poet published in the United States during the previous year. The winner also...

2024 Virginia Rucker Walker Poetry Prize Winners

The Creative Writing Program is delighted to announce this year’s Virginia Rucker Walter Poetry Prize winners. Out of the 24 applicants, one winner and two honorable mentions were selected by alumna Julia Anna Morrison. Below, meet our winning poets and read Julia Anna Morrison’s comments on their submissions.

1 st Place: Ashley Beresch with her poem “standing still for the strawberry moon”

About the work: "standing still for the strawberry moon" stopped me in my tracks. Through "the widest aperture," the poem moves through time “like a dream." Its language brims over, sprawling and enjambed, at once spare and rich, traversing time and space with precision, desire, and deep breaths. Indeed, “nothing to do but hold the other firm” amidst the ebbs and flow of memory, transience, and longing. The poem’s spell, blurring prose and poetry, dream from reality, grants us access to the dream and, as with the richest dreams, leaves us with a feeling of waiting and wanting, with only its “spectral” memory, the strawberry moon itself like the “plastic bag catching wind down / the shoreline,” to barely hold onto.

About the poet: Ashley Beresch is a 3rd-year English major with an emphasis in creative writing. Her work appears in Roi Fainéant, Apple in the Dark, Maudlin House, and other places. She can usually be found with a pencil tucked behind her ear.

Honorable Mentions: Lauren V. Girod & Jason G. Hawkins

Lauren v. girod with her poem “i am the deer and the deer is me”.

About the work: The parallel, contrapuntal form of “I am the Deer and the Deer is Me” scatters us across worlds; the text can be read a multitude of ways, forward or in reverse, up or down. The “skittish” poem sends “me spiraling,” tracking the drama of existence, of “driving alone at night,” or a night that “begins / and it ends more than myself.” Its syntax dazzles, deeply sensitive and vital. The chiasmus of its title invents the poem anew. This nonlinear architecture grants us many ways in and out of the poem and reinvents itself each time.

About the poet: "Lauren Victoria “Prophet” Girod is a poet, author, and narrative designer from Conyers, Georgia. She is in her final semester of undergraduate studies in English creative writing, and will continue writing until her pens have all but dried up. Her poetry has previously appeared in Stillpoint and Outrageous Fortune, and is pending publication with HINDSIGHT. When not creating odes to H.D. and Sappho, she can be found drinking cheap espresso and cuddling with her cat, Mr. Pumpkin." Her portfolio is located at linktr.ee/last_call .

Jason Germaine Hawkins with his poem “Nightscape”

About the work: “Nightscape” is an arresting, deceptively simple meditation on a particular night and kind of light near the face of Mount Nikkō. Enchanting and haunting, we gaze at a speaker “on the other side of the glass…black and silent,” looking in at two figures in a hotel room. The gulf between the glass and the hotel room feels dead quiet, symptomatic of something much darker—perhaps the fear of being seen (a “dream of visibility”), of trespassing, or of not being able to be seen, a mere “shadow” to be annihilated. The poem is chilly; it “stiffens” into the “featureless” face of Mount Nikkō itself.

About the poet: Jason Germaine Hawkins is a poet and short fiction writer from Georgia. He is a senior at the University of Georgia studying English and Japanese and will begin his MFA in poetry at the University of Pittsburgh as a K. Leroy Irvis Fellow this upcoming fall. He's interested in African American/African Diasporan poetry, twentieth-century American poetry, and translation. He has had poetry published in Stillpoint Literary Magazine. When he's not decoding Elizabeth Bishop, he enjoys video games, long movies, and language learning.

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Showcasing Boston College poets

In a fitting conclusion to National Poetry Month—which celebrates the importance of poets and poetry in our culture—a double poetry launch will be held on April 30 at Burns Library. It highlights the publication of collections by Boston College faculty members: Maxim D. Shrayer’s Kinship (Finishing Line Press, 2024) and Eric Weiskott’s Chanties: An American Dream (Bottlecap Press, 2023).

The authors will read from their respective books of poetry during the event, which will be moderated by Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and Burns Librarian Christian Dupont. English Department professors and poetry collection authors Andrew Sofer ( Wave ) and Allison Adair ( The Clearing ) will introduce Shrayer and Weiskott, respectively.

A reception and book signing will conclude the event, which will be held from at 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Burns Library’s Fine Print Room.

Updated portrait of Prof. Maxim Shrayer in the Dept. of Eastern, Slavic & German Studies photographed in the library of the department.

Maxim D. Shrayer (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Professor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies, Shrayer was born in Moscow and emigrated in 1987. The author and editor of more than 25 books in English and Russian, he has published four collections of poetry in Russian, most recently Stikhi iz aipada ( Poems from the iPad , Tel Aviv, 2022) and two collections in English, Of Politics and Pandemics and Kinship , which is out this month. [ Read a story on Kinship .]

Professor of English Eric Weiskott, who specializes in poetry, poetic meter, and periodization (the division of history into distinct periods), grew up in Greenport, New York, a whaling village on the east end of Long Island. His poetry chapbook, Chanties: An American Dream "is a shipboard reverie about the American boat we’re all in. Prose poems, lists, and lyrics find their sea legs while musing on a photograph of a lover left on shore," according to the publisher.

A poet and scholar of poetry and poetics, Weiskott also authored the scholarly monograph Meter and Modernity in English Verse, 1350–1650 . His poems have appeared in Fence , Texas Review , and Exacting Clam .

July 12, 2022 -- Eric Weiskott, Boston College Professor, English Department, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences.

Eric Weiskott (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)

“Chanties weaves together my interests in music, prose poetry, U.S. politics, literary history, and our collective experiences of living on this planet,” Weiskott said upon its publication. Of the upcoming event, he added: “I am excited to share poems from my recent chapbook with the BC community. [Professor of English] Suzanne Matson and so many other colleagues in the English Department have always been very supportive of my creative writing.”

“Dr. Weiskott grew up in a small maritime community and is well versed in songs of the sea and the maritime imprint on our lives through literature,” according to a recent review of Chanties by Ocean Navigator , which cites his “clear observational style.” His chapbook’s 21 poems “are written in free verse, yet the simplicity of the form belies the depth of the observations and the sly humor.”

The event is open to the public free of charge. It is sponsored by Boston College Libraries, the English and Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies departments, the East European and Eurasian Studies Program, and the Boston College Bookstore.

For more information, visit the BC Events Calendar .

IMAGES

101 Poetry Prompts & Creative Ideas for Writing Poems
How to Write Prose Poetry: a Six Step Guide
English Literature : Difference Between Poetry and Prose
Prose vs. Poetry: Key Differences and Similarities
Prose vs. Poetry: Their Differences and Overlaps
Prose Poems

VIDEO

O, Miami Poetry Festival Including Drag Poetry Slam Celebrates Words April 1
Conchas y Café
"BIBELOT"
The Colossal Power of Creative Writing--A New Publication
Creative Writing
"FUNHOUSE"

COMMENTS

Poetry Vs Prose: Understanding The Differences Between Poetic And
Key Takeaways. Poetry uses rhythmic and metaphorical language, while prose follows a natural flow of speech. Poetic language is used to create artistry in the work, while prosaic language is used to communicate information to a specific audience. Poetry is often associated with more artistic or literary genres, while prosaic language is more ...
Prose Courses
Creative Writing Program 450 Jane Stanford Way, Bldg. 460 Stanford, CA 94305-2087
What is Prose in Writing?
Prose is art. The way a writer uses language to tell a story. It lacks formality yet requires attention to detail. Writers manipulate the structure of sentences to elicit an emotional response from their readers. When a writer tells a story in ordinary, everyday language they are giving you their best in prose.
How to Use Poetic Prose to Improve Your Writing
How to Use Poetic Prose to Improve Your Writing. Sometimes a piece of writing needs more than prosaic language—you want it to take on a more poetic form. William Shakespeare was a master of poetic writing, crafting some of the most beautiful sentences in literature using iambic pentameter with a blank verse structure to write plays like ...
PDF Creative Writing: Introduction to Prose and Poetry CRWRI-UA.815
—one piece of prose (fiction or creative nonfiction), between 5 and 15 pages. —one piece of your choosing, either poetry, prose, or some combination. Format: Times New Roman or Garamond (for poetry only), 12-point font, double-spaced (for prose only), one-inch margins.
Advanced Poetry Workshop: Poets' Prose
CRWR 23132/43132 Advanced Poetry Workshop: Poets' Prose This genre-blurring workshop will explore elements of the history and practice of the prose poem, and other poems and texts that combine strategies, forms and gestures of prose (fiction, nonfiction, etc.) with those of poetry.
What Makes Good Prose? (and how to become a better writer ...
This will drastically improve your prose's flow and will keep the reader from getting bored, as well as hide you from the sense of amateur writing. To improve your prose by variation in word ...
Poem in Prose
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we've published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests ...
Writing Poetry (Online)
Writing Poetry (Online) 2022-2023 (20 weeks, one evening per week) This course will boost your writing in a friendly, structured environment. It is suitable for both new and more experienced writers. In practical work guided by your tutor, you will explore the effects of techniques in published poetry and learn how to strengthen your own poetry ...
What can poetry bring to prose
Poetry, like fiction, is a piece of imaginative writing. It can be motivated by a desire to express solely for ourselves our thoughts and contemplations, or it can be an artform that we wish to share with others. It is often at times of suffering, loss, grief, that we turn to poetry for expression. We become more creative.
Prose: Definition and Examples
Prosody is the pleasing sound of words when they come together. Verse and prose can both benefit from having better prosody, since this makes the writing more enjoyable to a reader. Clear definition and great examples of Prose. Prose is just non-verse writing. Pretty much anything other than poetry counts as prose: this article, that textbook ...
Creative Writing 101: A Beginner's Guide to Creative Writing
Creative Writing 101. Creative writing is any form of writing which is written with the creativity of mind: fiction writing, poetry writing, creative nonfiction writing and more. The purpose is to express something, whether it be feelings, thoughts, or emotions. Rather than only giving information or inciting the reader to make an action ...
Poetry and prose as methodology: A synergy of knowing
Although Richardson and St. Pierre (2018) wrote that we inhabit "a time when a multitude of approaches to knowing and telling exist side-by-side," (820) we recognize the lingering "sacrosanctity" (821) of privileged, conventional writing styles. As two researchers, one committed to academic prose and one committed to academic poetry, we seek to challenge that lingering sacrosanctity.
Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)
The minor in creative writing offers undergraduates the opportunity to sharpen their skills while exploring the full range of literary genres, including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. ... The introductory workshop Creative Writing: Introduction to Prose and Poetry (CRWRI-UA 815, 4 points) or the study away course Creative Writing ...
PDF Introduction to Creative Writing: Prose and Poetry
Introduction to Creative Writing: Prose and Poetry Where We Find Inspiration 2 Writing Exercises : At the beginning of every class, we will write together using different modes of inspiration. I may provide a prompt, ask you to bring in a picture to write from, listen to a song, or we may discuss something that could be observed on the page.
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
Creative Writing Program Details. Our Masters of Creative Writing degree program offers comprehensive online courses in literary arts, encompassing advanced writing studies in various genres such as fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and more. Students benefit from one-on-one mentorship with renowned and published writers in their respective genres ...
MFA Programs Database: 259 Programs for Creative Writers
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we've published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests ...
ENGL 2307 Introduction to Creative Writing
Practical experience in the techniques of imaginative writing. May include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, or drama. This creative writing course is designed to introduce students to the craft of writing short prose; it places students in a workshop setting that promotes close analysis of published fiction, relies on peer workshops, and fosters original, publishable work.
Creative Writing Examples (20 Types for You to Try)
Short stories range between 1,000 and 10,000 words, and like novels, they appear in a variety of genres. "Passing Ghosts" by Hannah Lee Kidder (from her collection Starlight) "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe.
Creative Non-What? On The Poetry Of Prose
On The Poetry Of Prose Susannah B. Mintz 2016-02-15 00:27:34 This is not a quibble over the vexing term "creative nonfiction," though I recognize, along with those who deride its vagueness, that that name tends to collapse at the slightest provocation.
Poetry vs. Prose?
After many, many years of studying poetry, it's something I read quite often now. It just takes some dedication and a willingness to learn. Finally, in my experience, English classes in school don't spend a lot of time on poetry, and I don't think the general public appreciates poetry as much as novels (and they don't think it's as sexy).
The Human Brain Is Hardwired for Poetry
Ordinary speech and prose affect the human brain but not in the same way as poetry, which activates specific areas of the brain that recognize its rhymes and rhythms and contemplate its imagery and layered meanings. The brain's reaction to poetry indicates a deep, intuitive connection to verse, suggesting that appreciation of poetry is within ...
Artist Profile: Kate Greene on Writing as Discovery
Her poetry and prose stem from, chronicle, and respond to the moments in which they are written. She describes her creative work as a "record" of its time — notably echoing a primary ...
Creative Writing Contest Winners Announced at National Poetry Month
The WNMU J. Cloyd Miller Library and the Humanities Department held the annual National Poetry Month celebration on Thursday, April 4, 2024. The winners of the WNMU Humanities Creative Writing Contest were announced at the event. Winning first place in both the poetry and prose categories was English major Brandon Lee Miller.
Writing Contests, Grants & Awards May/June 2024
Cash Prize: $2,000. Entry Fee: $15. Application Deadline: 4/30/24. Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation. A prize of $2,000 is given biannually for a work of flash poetry or prose. Manuscripts written in a language other than English are accepted when accompanied by an English...
2024 Virginia Rucker Walker Poetry Prize Winners
The Creative Writing Program is delighted to announce this year's Virginia Rucker Walter Poetry Prize winners. Out of the 24 applicants, one winner and two honorable mentions were selected by alumna Julia Anna Morrison. ... The poem's spell, blurring prose and poetry, dream from reality, grants us access to the dream and, as with the ...
Poetry Readings by Eric Weiskott and Maxim Shrayer
English Department professors and poetry collection authors Andrew Sofer ( Wave) and Allison Adair ( The Clearing) will introduce Shrayer and Weiskott, respectively. from at 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Burns Library's Fine Print Room. Professor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies, Shrayer was born in Moscow and emigrated in 1987.
PDF All COMPLETE submissions and entry forms are due ELECTRONICALLY by
ordinary speech or writing (not poetry) by one eligible Veteran that is a general topic discussion from the author's personal point of view. 10. Humor - All types of works which employ humor as the primary component should be submitted in this category. Poetry entries should be no longer than 48 lines and prose entries must not exceed 850 ...

Poetry Vs Prose: Understanding The Differences Between Poetic And Prosaic Language

Key Takeaways

Defining Poetry and Prose

Structure and Style

Use of Rhythm, Rhyme, and Imagery in Poetry

Natural Flow of Speech in Prose

Purpose and Audience

Analysis and Interpretation

Appreciating the Beauty and Complexity of Both Forms

Recommended Reading...

Prose Courses

What is Prose in Writing?

What are the Different Types of Prose?

What are the Elements of Prose?

Advanced Poetry Workshop: Poets' Prose

Writing Poetry (Online) 2022-2023

The Move to Online Learning

Your Learning Space

What is required of me?

How are seminars structured?

Programme Length: One year in 20 taught sessions. Maximum group size 15

Entry requirements : No formal qualifications required

To enrol: click on one of the payment links at the bottom of this page

What poetry can bring to prose

I. What is a Prose?

II. Types of Prose

b. Novels/short stories

c. Nonfiction books

III. Examples of Prose

IV. The Importance of Prose

V. Examples of Prose in Literature

VI. Examples of Prose in Pop Culture

VII. Related Terms

List of Terms

Creative Writing 101

For novelists: do you want to write compelling opening chapters?

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Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)

Policy on Course Substitutions

ENGL 2307 Introduction to Creative Writing - Prose

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