Join us on Zoom – Saturday, May 4 from 12:30 – 3:30pm EDT
Have you ever been to a reading where the reader mumbled, read too quickly or softly for comprehension, lost the audience’s attention shuffling through a huge, dog-eared sheaf of pages, or read long past the allotted time limit?
Writing poetry or prose and speaking it well in public are two different skills, and unfortunately even many good writers are not effective at presenting their work for an audience. We’ll review the elements and skills that contribute to a good reading—including online readings—and discuss how to use readings to market your publications.
You’ll go home with strategies for dealing with nerves, tips for pleasing reading organizers, audiences, and—perhaps most importantly—yourself.
Limited to 10 participants. Open to writers at all levels. Each participant will receive individual instruction and coaching. Cost is $100.00.
“Patrick has said that the “soundscape of a poem reflects an emotional landscape.” It is around this firmly-held belief that he brings to bear his background as an actor and singer. When I say I count myself among the luckiest, it is because I was a student in one of his first Public Speaking for Writers classes in 2005, and the experience transformed every aspect of how I approach reading and writing my own poems, and reading the work of other writers, to this day. I have learned from Patrick that in reading slowly, loudly, articulately, and perhaps most importantly, in one’s authentic, “real person” voice, a poet can traverse that watery, emotional landscape in important and fulfilling ways. A gift to listeners is a gift back to the poet, like echolocation, guiding us through the dark toward each other. I learned that from Patrick, too, and I will be forever grateful to him.” — Kimberly Keough, Poetry Seminar attendee, 2022 & 2023
PATRICK DONNELLY trained as an actor and singer at Oberlin Conservatory and performed extensively throughout the United States. He has helped to direct several different reading series, and for decades has taught public speaking and performance skills for writers and others at The Frost Place, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Colby College, the Lesley University MFA Program, and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. He is the author of five books of poetry, most recently WILLOW HAMMER (Four Way Books, 2025), and is Program Director of The Frost Place, as well as director of the annual TFP Poetry Seminar. More at patrickdonnellypoetry.com.
