The power of repetition is universal and archetypal. It helps us remember the things worth remembering, it emphasizes, heightens, soothes, excites. It can be an expression of grief or delight, plaintive or playful. Repetition is used in blessings and curses, prayers and spells-- moments in which we want to transform language of meaning into language of being. In this two-hour workshop we'll do a deep dive into repetition—exploring what it can offer our poems structurally, musically and tonally. We’ll look at poems that utilize repetition in both predictable and surprising ways and then write some poems of our own. We’ll then discuss what we’ve uncovered through the process. 

TERI YOUMANS is a fourth generation Floridian. She received her BFA in poetry at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and her MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She’s published two poetry collections. Her first, Dirt Eaters was chosen for the University of Central Florida’s contemporary poetry series and was published by the University Press of Florida. Her second book, Becoming Lyla Dore, was published by Red Hen Press. 

Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction/memoir have appeared in The Rumpus, Prairie Schooner, The Keepthings, Green Mountains Review, Indiana Review, South Dakota Review, Connecticut Review, Sugar House Review, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, and Homegrown in Florida: An Anthology of Florida Childhoods, among other journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of a Nebraska Arts Fellowship and has been awarded residencies at Millay Arts, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Hambidge Center. She has taught in Creighton University's MFA Program, at the University of North Florida, and in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s low-res MFA program. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida.