Are you looking to “level up” on your writing? Maybe you’re looking for a workshop of like-minded writers who want to be the best they can be and you want to join them? Maybe you want just enough instruction and guidance on a particular piece of writing to prepare it for the submittal process. If any of that is true, a Larksong Bootcamp workshop is for you.

Don’t be intimidated by the word “bootcamp” – we are MUCH kinder than drill sergeants and exercise class leaders.

This limited-enrollment workshop is open to a maximum of 10 writers who are committed to improving their own writing and are willing to read and respond to the work of the other writers in the workshop.

Led by an experienced writer and teacher, Matt Mason, this workshop will include discussions of craft and the writing process in ways that matter to each specific writer and go beyond the limits of one particular piece of writing. You will have the opportunity to learn from all the writers in the workshop both in their responses to your work and in the discussions of their work. The goal is not to “fix” anyone’s writing, but to provide illumination about where you are in the process and the direction you may want to go to improve your work. You will leave the workshop with a clearer understanding of the elements of craft and how they apply to your own work.  

The class will meet 4 times. The first meeting will be an introductory class where each writer will bring 10 copies of between 4-10 pages of poetry to share with the other writers. We will discuss and agree on the ground rules for responding helpfully and kindly and set the reading schedule for the next three weeks. During each of the next three meetings we will focus on 3-4 writers’ work. Each week class members are required to read and write comments on the work of the scheduled writer and be prepared to discuss it. 

Matt Mason is the Nebraska State Poet and, through the US State Department, has run poetry programs in Botswana, Romania, Nepal and Belarus. Mason is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Nebraska Arts Council. His work can be found in The New York Times, on NPR’s Morning Edition, in American Life in Poetry and more. Mason’s 4th book, At the Corner of Fantasy and Main: Disneyland, Midlife and Churros, was released by The Old Mill Press in 2022.