Cara Benson

Writer in Residence
Introduction to Poetry Writing Workshop, Spring 2006

New York State Writers Institute Writer-in-Residence Cara Benson will conduct an introduction to poetry writing workshop during the spring 2006 semester. The workshop is designed as a first course for beginning writers of poetry, people who have written some work, perhaps even published in a small magazine or journal, but who have had little formal training and have not had the opportunity to develop a measurable body of work. We recognize that people begin writing at all stages of life, sometimes with the insouciance of youth, sometimes returning to an effort after a long diversion, or sometimes realizing along the way later in life that they finally have something to say. Course work will include readings of selected texts and discussion of students' writing.

The workshop is scheduled for ten Wednesday nights (March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 19, 26, May 3, 10) from 6 to 9 p.m. In addition, individual student conferences will be scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. The class will take place on the University at Albany's uptown campus. The workshop is offered free of charge for non-credit, and will be limited to 13-15 writers. To be considered, submit manuscripts to the Writers Institute according to the guidelines listed below. Due to the volume of manuscripts received from previous workshops, we must insist that you follow the guidelines exactly.

Cara Benson's writing appears in print and online. 88, pom2, HOW2, EOAGH, Sentence, BoogCity, Tarpaulin Sky, and elsewhere. Other work includes "Quantum Chaos and Poems: A Manifest(o)ation" (BookThug), "Bound" (Dusie), and video poems online at The Continental Review. In addition to teaching for Skidmore College, Benson makes poems every Tuesday with male inmates at Mt. McGregor Correctional Facilty in upstate NY.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.