My Course Library About Holly Commitments Testimonials Contact
Manuscript Incubator & Mentoring Program

A Body of Work

with Holly Wren Spaulding 


A five-month incubator for poets ready to turn a file of promising poems into a finished, submission-ready chapbook manuscript — in close collaboration, and in good company.

  • Cohort of 8

Our next session begins in Fall 2027.

Join the Interest List →

imagine —

at last. after years, you've accumulated some promising poems.

 

a shape for your body of work. Considered, elegant, artful.

 

a path. a process to help you turn individual poems into a polished manuscript, intentionally, joyfully, in community.

 

a deep collaboration. your willingness, your raw talent, all those poems and pages — and my twenty-plus years as a writer, editor, and book reviewer who has assembled, edited, and published poems and collections, and built a program to teach you everything I know about the form of the book, arranging and revising a manuscript, and sharing your work with others.

 

a chapbook-length collection.  To take pride in, worthy of a wider readership.

 

a completion.

 

you are a poet. you are ready.

Holly's part.

Here's what you can expect from me, week to week and one-on-one, over the five months of the program.

 I. Weekly lectures, assignments & readings that walk you through assembling a chapbook-length manuscript (12–40 pp.), ready for presses, contests, or self-publication

II. Two rounds of editorial notes on your manuscript-in-progress considering what unifies your poems aesthetically, musically, thematically, and conceptually.

III. Private tutorials to talk through your progress and get editorial support along the way.

 IV. Powerful questions that push the writing where it needs to go, and help you find an elegant form for your body of work.

V. Weekly sessions on Zoom that build confidence in the editorial and revision process, and teach the foundations of a poetry collection.

VI. A small, supportive cohort. Many past participants keep meeting as independent writing groups long after the course ends — you'll make true poetry friends here. You'll find your future editors and collaborators here.

Side by side, and in the round, we'll identify your best poems — and the ones still waiting to be written — and shape them into something greater than the sum of its parts.

 

By the end of March 2028, you'll have a solid draft of a beautiful collection.

Is ABOW the right next step?

This course is for poets with a folder of poems already in hand, ready to be shaped into a collection.

Prerequisites:
  • At least 20 poems you're committed to and excited about — the more the merrier. We'll choose the ones meant for this collection together.
  • One revision-focused course already completed: X Ways: Poetry Revision Intensive, Other Doors, or an equivalent course with another instructor.
  • Still writing? If you don't have enough poems to make the commitment to a manuscript, take a generative course first — Many Lanterns, For a Meadow, or Small Harbors, or the like — then come back to ABOW when your poems are ready to be shaped.

What poets say when they finish.

"Holly's ability to understand the shape of a book, and how to lead someone into their body of work in aesthetic and formal alignment with its content, is sensitive, elegant, and profoundly illuminating."

 

— Georgia Wall, author The Circle Room

"It's such a gift to get feedback from you — completely eye-opening and rejuvenating. Such meticulous detail and thoughtfulness. You've really helped me refine my voice."

 

— Jean Golden, author Of Life

"I enjoyed ABOW tremendously. The confusing-to-me process of building a manuscript seemed like such an orderly progression as we completed each step."

 

— Nancy Nordquist, ABOW graduate

"This course deeply altered who I am, particularly as a poet and an artist. Faith in my work has grown. I feel less alone and lonely as a poet — seen, and lifted up."

 

— Aiyana Masla, author The Underdream and Stone Fruit

"A confidence about my work, but also about my ability to see what could and should happen on the page in revision. A growing willingness to try other ways, too."

 

— Sophie Wood, author The Distance and After

Investment in one finished manuscript, a cohort of peers, and the pleasure of taking your work seriously, and seeing it through to the end:

 

$3000

What's Included:

  • Weekly lectures, assignments & group Zoom sessions 
  • Private mentoring sessions with Holly 
  • Two rounds of editorial feedback from Holly
  • Peer feedback and support
  • Access to the course portal & community — 9 months

Payment Terms: If accepted, a $500 deposit holds your place. Full payment is requested by December 31, 2027 — unless you need a payment plan, which is always available, just ask. All course fees must be paid in full by March 1, 2028.

you are a poet. you are ready.

Join the Interest List

 A Body of Work is offered approximately once a year, from late winter until early spring, taught by Holly Wren Spaulding. The next session begins in Fall 2027.

Join the Interest List