Writers Network, April 2 – Overcoming Poetry’s Fear Factor

with
Bob Stanley
Professor and former Sacramento Poet Laureate

Many readers find poetry intimidating and may feel that they lack the skill to pinpoint what they like about a poem. Bob removes the anxiety about poetry by encouraging the appreciation of a poem for what it is. He will use examples from his work and invite participants to share what they find in the poetry.

Bob Stanley is a leader in the poetry community who has sought to bring the enjoyment of poetry to a diverse audience of readers, listeners, and poets. He is an educator and published poet who has thrown open the windows to allow the enjoyment of poetry to be widely shared. Bob will lead the meeting attendees through the examination of poems to identify what makes a poem speak to you. 

Poet Laureate of Sacramento from 2009 to 2012, Bob Stanley is a much-beloved figure in the poetry community. Along with teaching English at California State University, Sacramento, Bob has organized workshops, readings and conferences throughout Northern California. In 2009, Bob was chosen by the California Arts Council to edit an anthology of poems, Sometimes in the Open, by the poets laureate of California’s cities and counties. He has published two chapbooks: Eleven Blue Strings (little m press) and Walt Whitman Orders a Cheeseburger (Rattlesnake Press). His full-length poetry collection, Miracle Shine, was published in 2013 by CW Press. His poems have also appeared in many journals including California Quarterly, Suisun Valley Review, and Calaveras Station. A past President of the Sacramento Poetry Center, Bob continues to be an ambassador for poetry.