Upcoming class

Dear Readers:

Thank you again for your sustained and enthusiastic readership of The Sharpener. Finding and sharing poems with you each morning has become part of the fabric of my life, and it gives me pleasure to know that it’s part of the fabric of your lives, too.

I have an upcoming class I would like to share with you.

On December 24-25 I will be leading a two day Jewish Writers Poetry Workshop for Hudson Valley Writers Center. The workshop will be on Zoom over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (10-6 each day, with daily 2-hour lunch breaks).

All interested attendees of all identities are welcome. We will be addressing themes of cultural history, intergenerational trauma, family, exile, diaspora, or ethics, using these and many other Jewish authors as our guides: Lydia Davis, Allen Ginsberg, Stanley Kunitz, Grace Paley, Muriel Rukeyser, Bob Kaufman, and C.K. Williams.

You can register for the workshop here.

In an interview with Philip Roth, Primo Levi said that writers should maintain a “sharp mustard flavor.” He went on to say that making an important contribution to the country’s political and cultural life without renouncing one’s identity is a richness for writers.

Please spread the word to those who may be interested.

With gratitude, and with hope for the year ahead.

Sean