Welp. I've got a few more days teaching a poetry workshop course and I am going to miss it. I modeled it heavily after the workshops I had with Primus St. John, which I always found profoundly supportive and accessible. Primus always gave feedback that highlighted what I'd call opportunities for the poem to grow whether that meant improving on what appears in the draft or using what was in the draft to build new poems (or a series of poems). He also never put his thumb on the scale or indicated he didn’t “like” the poem the way some other people do when teaching poetry classes. I never felt compelled to write poems I didn't like in his workshops, because he treats the work on the terms of the writer, letting the poet focus on their own interests and lead their own process. He’d do things like let you know how he read and understood the poem and ask the writer what they wanted the poem to accomplish and then provide feedback that matches the author’s goals.
I won't say I didn't learn strong lessons about craft elsewhere, but I used his approach in this class and have enjoyed fostering a supportive, kind environment in which people who started the term terrified of being ridiculed are now writing with skill and confidence. I let everyone find their own bar and many of the students reached a lot higher than they said they would on the first day. I honestly feel a sense of privilege that I’ve had access to the rough drafts of these poems and work with a group of people who were immediately on board with critique as support for one another’s work. I am astounded by a lot of the poems I’ve read in the last few weeks.
On another note: If you don't have Primus St. John's work on your bookshelf, your PNW poet collection is woefully incomplete.