Workshops, Poetry Talks, Readings
Jennifer Freed is happy to lead or create individualized programs for your library group, book club, or classroom. She has many years of classroom teaching experience both in Adult Education and with elementary school kids, in the US and abroad. She has presented on-line and in-person adult programs for public and private groups including Yale Women Writers, The Stanley Kunitz Home Summer Writing Program, The Fox Hill Book Club, and many libraries, book stores, and community centers. Since 2014, she has lead the Craft of Writing Program, a theme-based close-reading and discussion program for adults who like to read and want to learn more about writing. References available upon request.
If you'd like to schedule a writing workshop or reading/presentation, please use the CONTACT page of this website.
SAMPLE WORKSHOP TOPICS for Adults and Children (Other talks or workshops can be developed according to your needs. Writing workshops need not focus on poetry)
Adults - Struggle and Loss -- As the writer Marie Howe has said, "Poetry holds the knowledge that we are alive, and that we are going to die." It is this awareness that can lead to greater attentiveness to (and appreciation of) the every-day life. This workshop will feature poems by Mary Oliver, Jane Kenyon, and others that bring our attention to themes of illness, struggle, healing, and attentiveness. Jennifer Freed's poems on illness and healing have been published in general literary journals, medical journals (JAMA, CHEST), literary journals associated with medical schools (The Healing Muse, Hospital Drive), and in her poetry collections
Grades 10 - Adult --Character, Setting, Voice -- In this series of three workshops, we'll have a close discussion of writing excerpts from respected authors such as John Steinbeck, Zora Neale Hurston, and Elizabeth Strout, to elicit strategies you can apply to your own writing. We will discuss ways of evoking time, place, and character, as well as the choices of diction and sentence structure that help writers create their own voice.
Grades 10 - Adult-- Economy of Language -- Already like to write, but not sure how to improve? Ever wonder about what is meant by "economy of language?" See how a well-placed adjective – or a well-placed absence of a word – sometimes can convey more than a whole page of flowery description. This workshop will include writing exercises as well as readings and discussion of writing samples by established authors. It is appropriate for writers of fiction, poetry, essays.
Young children -- Introduction to Poetry -Includes dramatic performance of narrative poems, clapping and chanting exercises, alliteration games, and fun for little learners.
Click HERE for Writing Tutor (best for students)
click HERE for Editing/Proofreading/Consultation
If you'd like to schedule a writing workshop or reading/presentation, please use the CONTACT page of this website.
SAMPLE WORKSHOP TOPICS for Adults and Children (Other talks or workshops can be developed according to your needs. Writing workshops need not focus on poetry)
Adults - Struggle and Loss -- As the writer Marie Howe has said, "Poetry holds the knowledge that we are alive, and that we are going to die." It is this awareness that can lead to greater attentiveness to (and appreciation of) the every-day life. This workshop will feature poems by Mary Oliver, Jane Kenyon, and others that bring our attention to themes of illness, struggle, healing, and attentiveness. Jennifer Freed's poems on illness and healing have been published in general literary journals, medical journals (JAMA, CHEST), literary journals associated with medical schools (The Healing Muse, Hospital Drive), and in her poetry collections
Grades 10 - Adult --Character, Setting, Voice -- In this series of three workshops, we'll have a close discussion of writing excerpts from respected authors such as John Steinbeck, Zora Neale Hurston, and Elizabeth Strout, to elicit strategies you can apply to your own writing. We will discuss ways of evoking time, place, and character, as well as the choices of diction and sentence structure that help writers create their own voice.
Grades 10 - Adult-- Economy of Language -- Already like to write, but not sure how to improve? Ever wonder about what is meant by "economy of language?" See how a well-placed adjective – or a well-placed absence of a word – sometimes can convey more than a whole page of flowery description. This workshop will include writing exercises as well as readings and discussion of writing samples by established authors. It is appropriate for writers of fiction, poetry, essays.
Young children -- Introduction to Poetry -Includes dramatic performance of narrative poems, clapping and chanting exercises, alliteration games, and fun for little learners.
Click HERE for Writing Tutor (best for students)
click HERE for Editing/Proofreading/Consultation