Guided Poetry Reading Group Survey

Reading fearlessly, creatively, and rigorously

Dear Sharpener Readers,

What do you think about the idea of a guided reading group? I've prepared a brief survey to gather your thoughts about a new project I'm launching—a guided poetry reading group.

Each month, over Zoom, I’ll guide a committed group of poets and poetry readers through a close reading of a current book. By “current” I don’t necessarily mean “new”, but current in the sense that these books have something important to tell us about the times in which we live. To start, I’m thinking about books like Chet'la Sebree’s Field Study (2021), Szilárd Borbély’s In a Bucolic Land (2022), Sun Yung Shin’s The Wet Hex (2022), and Rachel Mannheimer’s Earth Room (2022).

By gathering monthly to read more fearlessly, creatively, and rigorously, we’ll develop a deeper understanding of how great poetry is made. We’ll be reading not just for content, but for structure, process and choice—for how poets think. Reading this way can help us to think more fearlessly, creatively, and rigorously in our own writing, and in the choices we make about how we live.

Here's what membership in the Guided Poetry Reading Group might offer:

• A deep encounter with authors you might not otherwise have discovered—beyond current fads and “Best American” selections

• Reading guides in advance of our sessions: context and questions to guide your deeper reading

• In-session writing prompts that connect what we’re reading to the level of your own life, amplifying the insights we gain from our reading

• The fellowship of a like-minded group of inquisitive, upright readers and writers

• Limited class size to promote careful, intimate conversation and relationship-building

• Access to a dedicated discussion board for continued conversations before and after our sessions, moderated by me.

This brief survey will help me to gather your feedback and insights on this idea. You can fill out the survey by clicking on the button below.

In exchange for your time and thoughts, I’m happy to offer you a free 30-minute call to discuss your writing, your reading, or poetry more generally. When you complete the survey I'll follow up with an email and a link where you can schedule a time.

Thank you,

Sean

P.S. I’ll offer anyone who completes this survey 15% off initial enrollment in the group.