Gene Fehler's Poetry Writing Residencies
Gene is on the approved roster of the South Carolina
Arts-in-Education Residency Program for Literary Arts. He has conducted
residencies in schools in the following towns and cities:
In Alabama: Birmingham,
Foley, Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile
In North
Carolina: Fuquay-Varina, Raleigh
In South
Carolina: Aiken, Anderson, Andrews, Batesburg, Bishopville, Camden,
Central, Chester, Clemson, Clover, Columbia, Easley, Great Falls,
Easley, Greenville, Greenwood, Oakway, Pendleton, Pickens, Salem,
Seneca, Simpsonville, Walhalla, Westminster
In Texas: San
Antonio, Austin, Texarkana
Residency Title:
The Poet Within Us
Grade Levels: 4-12
Total Number of Visits: 5-10 days
Length of class session: 45-60 minutes
[Note: The above is flexible. While I usually meet with
four classes a day for five days, I sometimes meet with five classes a day
for four days. If a 45-60 minute session does not work for a school, we
sometimes schedule 90 minute sessions. Sometimes a school will want me to
meet with many different classes to give more students an exposure to
poetry. In those instances I might meet with a dozen or more different
classes in a week, some classes just one time and some two or three
times. I usually limit my involvement with grades K-3 to readings of
poetry, sometimes incorporating interactive verbal activities.]
I am also available for one-day readings, workshops, or
author days.
Residency Overview
Appropriate poetry activities (based on grade level,
aptitude, writing skills, poetry background) focus on the following
principles:
1) Everyone has countless unwritten poems. A
wide variety of specific "starter activities" help bring student poems to
the surface. I let them know it's okay to begin writing a poem before
they know its ending.
2) We must read good poems before we can expect to
write them. We read dozens of diverse poems by accomplished poets to
see what good poems sound and look like.
3) The experience of poetry is more important than its
meaning. Poet Dylan Thomas said of poetry, "All that matters is the
enjoyment of it." Robert Frost said, "A poem begins in delight and ends
in wisdom." I think it's essential for students to experience the delight
of poetry. A main focus of the residency is to let students discover the
fun of both writing and reading poems.
4) We are all experts on one thing: ourselves. I
show students how they can use their own experiences and observations as
material for poetry.
5) Figurative language and sound devices give us "new
ways of seeing." We examine how simile, metaphor, alliteration,
personification, hyperbole, rhythm, rhyme, irony, etc., help poets
surprise the reader and make "the familiar unique."
6) Visual quality is important in poetry. We
explore diverse forms for free verse poetry.
7) Poetry is not a matter of right and wrong, it is a
matter of exploring ways to make a good poem/line/word better. We
discuss the revision process.
8) Everyone likes praise, and all students like to see
their poems in print. I see that students receive both praise and,
when possible, publication.
Expectation of Teacher Involvement
Teachers must stay in the classroom at all times. Their
presence is even more valuable when they involve themselves in activities
as silent participants.
Schedule -- Fees
Please phone or e-mail Gene regarding scheduling and fees if you're interested in bringing him to
your school for a residency, workshop, or author day.