Events + Programs – Arizona State Poetry Society

ASPS Events

ASPS Free Time Writers

Incarcerated Writer Outreach Program

As a member of the Arizona State Poetry Society, you can become a mentor to an incarcerated writer. There are over two million people incarcerated in the United States.
Many are talented poets and writers; others are using their time in prison to work on their poetry craft.
ASPS teamed up with the University of Arizona Free Time: Writers Inside and Out Program to help train ASPS members as mentors and assign them a person to whom to write.
Free Time is part of a suite of programs supported by the Poetry Center under the umbrella of the Richard Shelton Programs for Writers who are Incarcerated.
An incarcerated writer matched with an ASPS member this way can receive most ASPS membership benefits for free. Mentors are invited to
join monthly useful and informative workshops sponsored by Free Time in person or by zoom. Mentors are asked to apply for a training and make an at least one year commitment.

I am interested. What do I do?
To learn more about how to take this life changing step, contact Betty King (520.271.5641 or BettyKing. Freetime@azpoetry.net)

Mentor/Sponsor Process

Membership Form / Payment for additional sponsorships

Each ASPS Member is allowed one free membership for his/her incarcerated individual.
If Mentor/Sponsor chooses to work with more than one incarcerated individual, those additional memberships must be paid for by the ASPS Member. If you sponsor a second or third person, be sure to go to the Membership page and fillout the form, azpoetry.net/join/#membership
It is the responsibility of the Mentor/Sponsor to send the incarcerated individual the ASPS Membership Form available from the ASPS Treasurer.
The Incarcerated individual is to return the completed form to you, the Mentor/Sponsor.
The Mentor/Sponsor then sends the completed form to the ASPS Treasurer/Membership Director.

ASPS Poets Feedback Service

The ASPS Board is pleased to announce the Poetry Feedback Service, exclusively for ASPS members. The program will provide ASPS members the opportunity to submit up to two poems a year for feedback from an experienced, published poet.

What Poets Are Saying About the Feedback Service

Bonnie Wehle, my assigned critique ‘mentor’, quickly understood the intent of the poem and zeroed in on improvements to the diction and the ‘tempo/music’ of the poem. It was clear she had taken the time to read the poem very carefully. Her feedback has helped me recognize problematic patterns that tend to recur in some of my writing. Bonnie’s poetry skills were evident throughout the process and her tone was consistently positive. Ultimately, the result was a much improved piece of writing. I heartily recommend the Critique Service. The one-on-one attention to one’s work can be invaluable!

~~ Frank Carruth

We all know that editing and revising a poem can be a ruthless task. You have to strike out words you labored to put on the page. I find an editor to be a friend who helps me see that my “baby” has soiled diapers that need to be changed. They have to go–the diapers, not the baby. Editing saves me the embarrassment of showing an imperfect or unfinished poem. It gives me the chance to present my “baby” in a first-rate way. I appreciate our editors’ approach in telling us the strong points of our work and that which needs help or deletion.

Thank you for your work on this program. I hope that many of ASPS poets will use and appreciate it.

I greatly appreciate the feedback I received from the editors in the Poetry Feedback Service. They were both quick and welcoming with their responses, and this is exactly what I needed to grow as a poet.

Christy White gave me feedback on one of my children’s poems, bringing to my attention the age range of my readers and examining the words used to see if they fit in with today’s lingo. This was a poem I had written several years ago, so this point was extremely important. She also helped with clarifying the dialogue so it is clear who is speaking. She offered to look at the revised version too. I’m now going to run this by my grandkids to see if I hit the right points!

Katie Zale critiqued one of my memoir poems and helped clarify the focus of the poem on the same goal throughout. She gave me an example of how another poet approached a similar issue and also literary devices that can be considered, both valuable learning tools. She addressed each struggle I had asked for advice with. She helped me with both the title and ending of the poem to make things clear. She was extremely patient with me as she taught me how to use google docs too!

I appreciate the time and dedication ASPS has to helping their fellow poets learn and grow in our craft. Thank you all for what you do!

Bonnie Wehle gave me some excellent suggestions and was very helpful! I took every suggestion seriously and made the most of them, and in all cases, adjusted something based on her comments. I am convinced that the poem is very improved. The turnaround was amazingly fast also, I believe within 24 hours.

I hope everyone who has participated has had such a positive experience, and ASPS will keep this program going. Thank you, and my thanks to Bonnie!

SLAMS

Workshops

All workshops are on Zoom and some are also hybrid meaning they include an in-person location. Some workshops have class size limits, so register early to reserve your spot.

No refunds are given if unable to attend the workshop, but a credit will be issued for a future workshop OR you can receive the recorded workshop to view.

If you are unable to attend a workshop, please let our workshop coordinator, Brenda Wildrick, know immediately so that others who want to attend will have a chance to do so. brendawildrick.workshops@azpoetry.net

Workshop Recording Policy

The availability of this recorded workshop is available exclusively to all paid registrants with the understanding that the paid registrant will not share, distribute, forward or allow any other person to view the recording, and that upon completion of viewing the recording, will delete the recorded file from registrant’s computer.

If unable to attend and you wish to receive the recorded workshop, confirming via email to the workshop coordinator that you agree to these stipulations. Once the coordinator receives your confirmation, the ASPS Technical Director will send you the recording when it becomes available.