Listening to the Heart of the Poem:
A Diagnostic Approach to Revision
A One-Day Workshop With Ella Peary
Saturday, August 15th, 2026
Poetry • Online • 10am–3pm ET
Every poem has a heart: a living center that gives it a reason to exist.
But that heart isn't always easy to hear.
Sometimes it can be heard clearly from the first draft, steady and unmistakable. More often, though, it's faint: hidden in an unexpected line, emerging only through revision, or waiting just beyond what we've already written.
Learning to listen for that heartbeat is one of the most important skills a poet can develop, because once we begin to hear the poem's living center—and diagnose what the poem truly needs—every decision about craft becomes clearer.
In this generative and revision-based workshop, you'll draft three new poems through guided writing prompts before practicing three different diagnostic approaches to revision.
Together, we'll explore practical ways of listening for the heart of a poem, recognizing what that heart is asking for, and responding with the revision it truly needs.
We'll conclude by sharing our work in a supportive reading, leaving with new poems, practical revision strategies, and a deeper understanding of how to listen for—and respond to—the life at the center of our own writing.
For those interested in participating, you’re encouraged to enroll right away.