Join Us

This is imagination school.

Poetry Forge offers workshops and writing opportunities all year round. You can view our calendar of current offerings and subscribe to our newsletter, which is the most reliable way to engage with our work. You can also follow us on Instagram @poetryforge where we share favorite poems, inspirations, and scenes from the seacoast of Maine. Get in touch anytime if you have questions.

Featured
The Casual Union of Working Poets

January 30-December 10, 2026

The Casual Union of Working Poets is a yearlong gathering for those who want a steady, humane rhythm with their work. We meet twice monthly to read closely, write bravely, and stay in meaningful conversation with our poems and one another. Members may also choose to gather in person for a retreat in Maine, deepening the circle.

Details here

Featured
Oceans Without End

This course will return in Summer 2026.

A summer practice period for poets and secret poets offering a slow, sultry approach to writing through the season, and a creative project to focus your attention during the lazy, hazy days of June and July. All levels.

Details here

For a Meadow

This course will return in Spring 2026

For a Meadow: 13 Ways to Seed a Wildland of Poems. Guided by the themes of sowing and cultivation, we will explore the practice of writing as a way of imagining and creating a world of fertility, possibility, and little beauties. Taught asynchronously online by Holly Wren Spaulding. All levels.

Details here

Featured
Many Lanterns

Sparks to illuminate the poet’s path

Wayfinding and poetic guidance in the form of a 31 part series where devoted reading, writing, workshops, and reflection will lead to a substantial body of new work in progress, and deeper trust in your creative process. Enrollment will open in November for the next round of this course.

Details Here

Every so often we bring back these favorites
Featured
Other Doors

Check back

Other Doors: X Ways to Revise a Poem provides essential lessons in the art of revision, helps you become more confident in your ability to edit your work, and prepares students to submit their work for publication in literary magazines and journals. This course is a pre-requisite for anyone who would like to take A Body of Work, which is Holly’s annual manuscript incubator.

Details here

A Body of Work

November 16, 2025-March 18, 2026

A manuscript incubator where you receive support, mentorship, and feedback as you develop your first poetry chapbook manuscript. ABOW is a good fit for those who have assembled enough poems to begin thinking in terms of a collection. It is recommended that the student complete Other Doors: X Ways to Revise a Poem or another revision focused course, before joining ABOW. Applications open in November for the follow year’s cohort.

Details here

Infinite Imagination

Check back

A process lab for new writing and creativity where we explore the uses and pleasures of prolific iteration while undertaking experiments that involve committing to our obsessions, exploring echoes, and embracing swiftness and looseness. Students will conceive a small project based on their findings in the lab. Online. Space is very limited.

Author Holly Wren Spaulding appeared as part of the Coffee With the Author series at the Glen Arbor Art Center in July 2023.

Creative Advising & Manuscript Feedback

Holly takes on a limited number of private clients each season for creative advising and feedback on work in progress. At present, these sessions are only available to members of the Casual Union of Working Poets and students enrolled in A Body of Work.

Reach out if you have questions or wish to book time together via phone or Zoom.