Mountain Words Festival 2026

Poet Michael Hettich, with decades of experience with writing and reading poetry leads this generative workshop for poets of all levels.

One of the fallacies all writers hear at some point is that one should “write what you know.” Infact, the thrill of writing poetry lies in discovering what one does not know, or, more accurately,what one does not know one knows. Thus, the successful poem is one that surprises the poetherself with its discovered truth—or even, in extremely rare moments, with its revelation. In thisshort workshop, I will present some basic approaches to the practice of writing poetry that allowthe writer to use cadence and image as a vehicle for exploration and discovery. We will write inresponse to various prompts and share what comes our way, and I will share advice for how tointegrate a regular and productive poetic practice into our busy lives.