Class Title: There Has Been Love... Instructor: Lorraine Mejia Class Term: January 9-February 13, 2012 We are not accepting any more enrollments for Lorraine's class; the class has started. Synopsis An important part of your life story involves love, in its many and varied forms. Write about the important moments, people, and things of your life—those times where there has been love... Class Description You cannot live a life without experiencing some kind of love: romantic love, love of a child, love of a parent or grandparent, love of a sibling, love of a pet, love of places, love of experiences, love of career, love of favorite things to do (hiking, traveling, cooking, etc.), love of food, love of things (birds or trees or warm socks or Christmas trees, etc.). An important part of your life story involves love, in its many and varied forms. Through thoughtful writing exercises and model poems from some of the great poets of our time, Lorraine Mejia will guide you through an important exploration of the love that has been present in your life. All writing genres welcome. Students will be able to write about the many, varied forms of love in their lives. Have an opportunity to receive individual feedback from a skilled poet who loves to inspire her students. Course will use a Yahoo group for communication. Literature used in class will be found online. Outline Unit 1: Introduction. Exploration of the many ways writers have written about love—in its many, varied forms. Unit 2: Early Loves. Who and what were the early loves of your life? What memories do you have? Write about parents, grandparents, pets, favorite places, family traditions, favorite memories. Unit 3: Romantic Love. Did you have a first love? Puppy love? Married love? Write about the romantic love or loves of your life. Unit 4: Ode to the Things You've Loved. We will study Pablo Neruda, the famous poet who perfected the art of writing odes to the things he loved, and use his poems to inspire some of your own unique poems about the things you've loved. Unit 5: The Things You Didn't Know You Loved. In his later years, the famous Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet wrote about the things he didn't know he loved. We will use his poem as a model to explore the things we might not realize we love. The unit will include other poems about the things that poets through the century have loved.poems to inspire your own deep writing. Student Skills, Equipment, and Time Required All writing levels welcome. Basic Internet and computer skills needed. Ability to navigate a Yahoo group and send emails. Time Commitment: 2-5 hours per week (students can, of course, put in more hours, as reading and writing poetry is wonderful and if a student has more time for it, that's great! However I, like many other women, have a very full schedule, so 2-5 hours is also wonderful!). Tuition/Fees for this course SCN members: $160. Non-SCN members: $200. Instructor Bio Born in Minnesota to a Mexican Mother and German American father, Lorraine Mejia became a marathon runner, flamenco dancer, artist, editor, librarian, educator, poet, author, and storyteller. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a MLS in Youth Librarianship. Lorraine's poems have won several awards, and have appeared in anthologies such as Between the Heart and the Land/Entre el corazón y la tierra: Latina Poets of the Midwest and in literary journals including Willow Springs, Inkwell, and Calyx. She has taught poetry classes to children, teens, and adults all around the country. Visit her website. Praise for Lorraine's Classes Lorraine Mejia is among the top instructors of the SCN courses I have taken. I love her thoughtful feedback and encouraging comments. I hope to take more classes from her. —Janice K., Austin TX Lorraine Mejia was insightful, pleasantly encouraging while offering suggestions and comments. I loved this course. —Mary Ann P., Sugarland TX Lorraine Mejia makes any class worth my time. She is incredibly helpful and challenging (in the best supportive way) us to do our best work. I adore her! —Harriot W., Eugene OR This was my first course with SCN. It was excellent! Lorraine Mejia was prepared—full of ideas and suggestions for the class. I learned from the comments that she (and others) gave regarding my work and also from the work of other students. —Camille D., Glen Allen VA The high level of editorial suggestions by Lorraine Mejia helped me grow as a writer. In this class, learning is fun! —Ann M., Cedar Park TX Lorraine Mejia is a fabulous instructor. Her materials are always so interesting. —Harriot W., Eugene OR Lorraine Mejia-Green's well thought out, supportive feedback was very helpful to me. —Betty M., Austin TX Lorraine Mejia-Green's wonderful class helped me to discover and uncover my inner poet! —Lauren R., Austin TX This is one of the best courses offered on SCN's website. I am inspired to write better and more economically. Lorraine Mejia-Green is thorough and gracious in her presentation of this course. —Carol Z., St. Louis, MO I so enjoyed Lorraine Mejia-Green's helpful and encouraging comments... —Marjorie K., Guysborough NS CANADA I learn so much each time I take one of Lorraine Mejia-Green's classes. I particularly like how much she comments/guides me when I submit my work. —Carol Z., St. Louis, MO Definitely, the course met my expectations. Lorraine Mejia-Green's constructive criticism, professional skills and helpful information few instructors or teachers provide. All that Lorraine offered I easily apply to not just poetry, but all my writing...I found Lorraine a sincere gift to me and my writing. I'm certain all women writers, not just poets, will benefit with Lorraine as their instructor. —Marjorie K., Guysborough NS CANADA Lorraine Mejia-Green was TERRIFIC! She provides comments, suggestions, material, support—I cannot say enough—I am delighted with her and the depth to which I went. —Mary S., Medford NY I learned new ways of looking at my writing style of poetry. Lorraine Mejia-Green's class was very helpful with new ideas. —Jamuna A., Lorraine Mejia-Green's class on poetry writing is an excellent motivator to studying poems and getting your own poetry written. I found her comments useful and when implemented they made my poems much better. Lorraine is very accessible, you can ask her anything and she is quick to answer you via email. She is open to anything you want to talk about. It's like having a good friend see you along your writing journey. I'm sure I will be in contact with her after the course. —Renee C., Lorraine Mejia-Green's attentive red-line reviews were the reins gently leading us to confidence and individual voice, all the while honing our work. —Jazz J., Austin TX Lorraine Mejia-Green was wonderful—teacher, supporter, encourager, truthful, helpful—it is a very rich course and I hope she teaches another. —Mary S., Medford NY Due to a prior negative experience writing poetry, I enrolled in this course with a degree of fear. I did not think I could write poetry, but I wanted to learn the process so maybe someday I could try to write poetry. Lorraine Mejia-Green made me feel like my contributions really were poetry and quite acceptable. I can't tell you what this did for my self-esteem. I learned to love reading poetry and writing it also. I started the class feeling like a dunce and ended it feeling like a poet. Thank you, Lorraine. This has been the best on-line StoryCircle course yet!! —Janice K., Austin TX Appreciated the richness of the class, the poetry readings of other poets and student and Lorraine Mejia-Green's feedback. —Katharine A., Makawao HI This was a great class. I am glad that you offer a poetry class now. It had been a long time since I had written poetry. This class made me realize that I can still write. Lorraine Mejia-Green prepared excellent hand outs and an organized syllabus. She included a great variety of poets with links to specific poems and collections. —Rachel O., Richardson TX Lorraine Mejia-Green is a wonderful instructor! —Aranga F., Three Rivers CA What a gifted teacher! I learned so much with Lorraine Mejia-Green and the other women in my group! The feedback and direction were stellar! I'm signing up for the next class! —Carol Z., St. Louis MO Lorraine Mejia-Green supported our learning in this class at a very high level. She reinforced what was working in our writing and had clear suggestions to improve our poems, line-by-line. Several of us in this class will be signing up for Lorraine's next online course. What could be a better endorsement? —Ann M., Cedar Park TX Lorraine Mejia-Green is positive without being just a cheerleader. Fantastic class. —Kim C., Edmond OK