This weekend, I’ll be running a two-hour poetry workshop as part of the three-day virtual event Writing Poetry in the Dark, hosted by Raw Dog Screaming Press. In addition to my live workshop (via Zoom), participants can interact with other contributors featured in the forthcoming book Writing Poetry in the Dark. Featured poets include Michael A. Arnzen, Donna Lynch, Jessica McHugh, Tim Waggoner, Albert Wendland, and Stephanie Wytovich.
Registrations at the VIP + 2 Workshops level ($197) will have access to the entire event, which features on-demand prerecorded content, live sessions, and recordings. This top tier includes all of the rewards in the VIP level ($97) AND access to the events TWO live workshops: Writing from the Wound with Donna Lynch and Fairy Tale Poetics: New Wine in Old Bottles by yours truly. At the all-inclusive price, which includes TWO 2-hour interactive workshops, you can’t go wrong.
My workshop, Fairy Tale Poetics: New Wine in Old Bottles, will be held on Saturday (October 8) from 5 to 7 pm Mountain Time. (To convert the session to your local time, check HERE.) I have a special presentation set up with some of my favorite fairy tale poems. As a participant, you will have access to workshop materials and resources. But the best part is that the small forum provides the perfect place for individual feedback and small group discussion. I hope you’ll join us. It’s going to be a blast!
If you’re new to my poetry, check out “Fairy Tale Prohibition” (NonBinary Review #25 Prohibition, Zoetic Press), which was nominated for Best of the Net. I have several new pieces slated to come out later this year and a few scheduled for 2023 (announcements coming soon!). Links to past poetry publications can be found HERE.
I’ve also worked in an editorial capacity with poetry in Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas, which won the Colorado Book Award in the category of Anthology.
Although I don’t consider myself primary as a poet, it is one of my guilty pleasures. It’s a form I’ve always enjoyed, especially when it’s used as a lens through which to view fairy tales. I mostly work in the realm of short fiction, but I’ve been slowing compiling a full-length poetry collection. After all, fairy tales and folklore are my area of expertise. Over the years, I’ve presented on several panels. I’ve also been running online fairy tale workshops at The Storied Imaginarium since 2016. However, this will be the first workshop I’ve offered based solely on poetry. Writers I’ve worked with in the past have gone on to publish workshop stories in such magazines as Apex Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, Daily Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, and more. I can’t promise results, but I’ll do my best to help you hone your voice. You can check out the list of published stories started in my workshops HERE.
What writers have to say about working with me:
“The best writing career money I ever spent was on the Storied Imaginarium Monstrous Women writing course presented by Carina Bissett. I’m planning to sign up for another one of Carina’s classes next time they open. It was astronomically helpful and inspiring.” — Mercedes M. Yardley, author of Little Dead Red. (Storyville: What’s the Best Money You’ve Spent on Your Writing Career?, column by Richard Thomas)
“Carina is a great teacher—insightful, resourceful and empathetic. It was Carina who encouraged me to get my stories out, even when they’d rather skulk in the corners of my brain, then revise and send my work out to publishers. I can’t wait to work with her more in the future.” —Daniela Tomova, author of “Behind Her, Trailing like Butterfly Wings,” Apex Magazine.
“Carina’s classes are intensive and illuminating. I’m impressed with her extensive knowledge of myth and fairy tales, as well as her insightful and kind critique. Highly recommend!” — KT Wagner, author of “3-D Monarch” in Happily Ever After, “Slipped Stitch” in Dead of Winter, and “Grandma Heloise” at Daily Science Fiction.
“Carina Bissett is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic workshop leaders I’ve ever seen. Her generous reading, sharp eye for detail, and prolific knowledge of both fairy tales and publishing make her an ideal teacher for novice and practiced writers alike. I heartily recommend any writing program with her at the helm.” — Julia K. Patt, author of “Whatever Tower, However High,” Escape Pod and “My Dear, Like the Sky and Stars and Sun,” Clarkesworld.
Persephone’s Promise
Come gentle spring in green’s desire:
the fertile floods, the tender shoots,
a promise of life in the making.
Come graceful fall, ripe bounty culled:
the harvest moon, the golden fields,
a promise of death in the taking.
When winter comes, she cradles bones of hope,
ash dusting dreams of the damned in the dark,
summer’s sacrifice red and ripe between her teeth,
shuddering pomegranate torn in two,
a promise of blood spilt in meadows bloomed,
a promise of seeds spent in shadows doomed.
Bio: Carina Bissett is a writer and poet working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including What Remains, Upon a Twice Time, Bitter Distillations: An Anthology of Poisonous Tales, Arterial Bloom, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Weird Dream Society, Hath No Fury, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, VI, VIII, and IX. She is also the co-editor of the award-winning anthology Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas. Links to her work can be found at http://carinabissett.com.
Preorder your copy of Writing Poetry in the Dark from Raw Dog Screaming Press HERE. *Coming October 18th*
Writing Poetry in the Dark brings together some of the most successful contemporary genre poets to discuss topics related to creating dark and fantastical poetry.
The essays inside feature wonderful tidbits of knowledge for all levels of poets or aspiring poets, or even, anyone interested in learning how people write poetry and why. It might even inspire a reluctant poetry reader to read some!
“Writing is alchemy. You take scary, magical things like emotions—all your pain and anger, your joy and lust, everything you’re afraid of—and you let them churn around inside the brilliant galaxy of your body and brain until they can’t be contained anymore. Then you make something. Maybe you make art. Maybe it’s violent art. Whatever it is, make the thing that sets you free.” – Claire C. Holland, in “Freeing the Demon: Writing Violence Into the Poem”
Writing Poetry in the Dark Table of Contents –
- “To Sing Dark Songs” by Tim Waggoner
- “Dislocating the World” by F.J. Bergmann
- “Writing Speculative Poetry in Experimental Forms” by Linda D. Addison
- “The Art of Speculative Haiku” by Christina Sng
- “A Slippery World: Writing Poetry About Gender and Sexuality” by Lucy A. Snyder
- “Do Not Fear Poetic Collaboration” by Jim & Janice Leach
- “Here Are the Stairs to the Dark Cellar; Yes, You Must Go There: POV in Dark Poetry” by Timons Esaias
- “World-Building…in a Poem?” by Albert Wendland
- “Putting the Science in Science Fiction Poetry” by Jeannine Hall Gailey
- “Like Fright on Lice: Humor and Horror Poetry” by Michael Arnzen
- “Dark Poetry and War” by Alessandro Manzetti
- “This Is Not a Poem” by Cynthia Pelayo
- “Global Reflections Within Our Fear-Lit Ink” by Bryan Thao Worra
- “Of Poison Doors and Uncarved Stones” by Saba Syed Razvi, PhD
- “Into the Dark Woods: Fairy Tale Poetry” by Carina Bissett
- “Dreams as Poetry: Translating Dreams into Verse” by Joanna C. Valente
- “I Got My Passport Stamped in Hades: Waking the Dead in the Poem” by Leza Cantoral
- “Historical Horror in Poetry” by Sara Tantlinger
- “Exploring the Monstrous Woman Archetype: Writing Satan’s Sweethearts” by Marge Simon
- “Freeing the Demon: Writing Violence Into the Poem” by Claire C. Holland
- “Dancing in the Design: Creating Blackout Poetry” by Jessica McHugh
- “Writing the Wound” by Donna Lynch
Carina Bissett 