by daithí

On May 16, when lilacs were bursting out into purple song and birds were tuning up and tuning up for Spring, Tim Mayo led the 2026 PSOV Spring Workshop entitled: An Exploration of Voice in Poetry. Twenty five poets from around the state showed up on the first full-throated day of May and took part in the workshop.

Tim had sent out packets to each of us who were attending, asking each poet to look at four different sets of poets who took on verse in different ways: from Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman, Alan Ginsberg to T.S. Eliot, from Maggie Smith to Ada Limon, from Victoria Chang to Mary Ellen Solt, and from Billy Collins to Jorge Luis Borges. Before arriving at the workshop, the assignment covered a lot of territory–including different ways of defining voice. What did we think voice looked like–or sound like?

Such a reflective approach prior to the workshop really worked. The level of discussion that took place between and amongst the poets in the room was wide and varied. Many shared their observations about the selected poetic sets while also listening closely to others. Some even held two contrary opinions at the same time. Like a Town Meeting of the Mind. As an example, Mary Ellen Solt’s “Forsythia” generated considerable discussion as to whether her concrete poem qualifed as a poem. Was it beautiful graphics or a telegraphic poem?

When lunchtime came, many spilled out into the larger world, occupied picnic tables or Adirondack chairs, bathed themselves in the warmth of the sun and the ease of conversation with each other. After lunch, everyone returned to five separate discussion tables to share poems of their own and see whether a voice was (or voices were) present. Before closing up, Cindy, PSOV President, led a shared discussion of what each of us had explored while sharing our poems together: was there a voice evident in the individual poems each poet brought to the workshop?

Before driving back home, all the attendants assembled for a group picture. It was a glorious day and also great fun. I can only imagine what we will experience at the Summer Poetry Festival: Gathering Voices at the Highland Center for the Arts on August 8th.

Hope to see you there!