Laurence Ferlinghetti wrote, “If you would be a poet, write living newspapers.” In this workshop we will consider the ways the occasion poem is often written to document or provide commentary on an event. Sometimes it is intended to be read or performed publicly, but not necessarily. There are no specific guidelines for occasion poems, except that they mark a specific occasion or situation. The poems can be long or short, serious or humorous, formal or experimental. We will look at several occasion poems together [...]