It was a new idea for a poetry workshop. In 2003, poet and publisher Judith Kerman, then living in Saginaw, Michigan, conceived of a series of poetry working groups without a designated leader. While workshops led by accomplished poets were a well-established format, Kerman’s idea was different: small groups of what she called “mid-career poets” meeting for a week as equal working partners.
Because she was living and working in the home city of the great poet Theodore Roethke, she called the retreats “Rustbelt Roethke.”
Kerman moved to Woodstock in 2012, bringing the workshops with her. They became the Woodstock Mayapple Writers’ Retreat, named for both her new location and her publishing house, Mayapple Press. The number of participants, limited to 16, included both invited guests and selected applicants. Upon arrival, participants were divided into groups of three to five that met each morning to workshop their poems. The rest of the day was devoted to writing and additional group meetings, with group readings most evenings.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 forced the retreat to shift to a virtual format. Since then, it has followed a hybrid model, with some poets attending in person and others via Zoom. Evening readings are now held separately for online and in-person participants. Most years, about half the attendees are returning poets.
I was participating in the retreat for the fifth time, and as always found it an engrossing experience. I worked with three other poets in person: Robert McDonough, Penelope Levine, and Lisken Van Pelt Dus. I was familiar with the work of all three—in Lisken’s case, it was a recent poetic acquaintance. I had gone with Judy Kerman to a bookstore in Lenox to hear Lisken read from a new book that Judy had published. Although we had never worked as a group before, we quickly became a productive working unit, everyone offering useful feedback and suggestions for the others’ poems.
As an example, I brought in a poem called Retronym, constructed largely out of retronyms—terms coined in retrospect because something once unique had acquired a later version, such as “mono record,” which came into use only after stereo records were introduced. I had thought the poem was tightly constructed enough that improvements were unlikely, but I wound up with several worthwhile suggestions to strengthen it.
This year’s retreat concluded on August 7. In-person readings took place at the Woodstock Library on August 4 and the West Hurley Library on August 6; Zoom participants also gave group readings. I heard two readings from distant participants on Zoom and one in person at the Woodstock Library. I was part of the final reading at the West Hurley Library, where we surprisingly drew the largest audience. Sharing the program with Alison Koffler and Penelope Levine was a lovely experience.
All four readings will be posted on the Mayapple Press YouTube channel by the end of August.
Local poets who participated this year included Kerman, Levine of Rhinebeck, and Woodstock’s Koffler and myself. Other poets joined from out of town or online.
Leslie Gerber is a contributing writer who attended this year’s Mayapple Writers’ Retreat. Send correspondence to reporting@theoverlooknews.com.