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Revisiting Craft with Kentucky Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell

This past Saturday, Kentucky Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell led a craft talk in partnership with KSPS that focused on the art of revising poems. Attendees learned practical strategies for strengthening their work, from identifying the strongest line in a poem to trimming words that don’t serve the piece’s core meaning. Reading aloud, experimenting with phrasing, and paying attention to rhythm and sound were just a few of the techniques Driskell highlighted as ways to make poems more precise and effective.

Even if you weren’t able to attend, these ideas can be applied to your own writing. Take a moment to read a poem you’ve written and ask yourself: Which line holds the most weight? What words can be removed or rearranged? How does the poem sound when read aloud? These simple steps can help unlock new possibilities in your work.

For those who enjoyed these strategies, there’s even more to look forward. On December 6, Driskell will lead a session titled “Meaning-Making Sentences for Our Poems.” She’ll explore how syntax, sound, and form work together to create meaning, offering rhetorical and structural techniques that poets can use in their own work. Whether you’re revising a current poem or starting a new one, this upcoming session promises to provide fresh tools and inspiration.

Mark your calendars and check out the details, plus go ahead and register to secure your spot —this is a chance to dive deeper into craft with one of Kentucky’s leading poetic voices.

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Seasonal Inspiration: Writing into Autumn

As the air turns crisp and the days grow shorter, autumn offers poets a wealth of inspiration. The season is full of natural transformations—leaves changing color, fields being harvested, animals preparing for winter. For many writers, these shifts in the world mirror the changes within ourselves.

Why Autumn Inspires Poets

Autumn carries a sense of transition. It’s a time between abundance and rest, warmth and cold, light and darkness. Poets are often drawn to these in-between spaces, where beauty and melancholy intertwine. A falling leaf can remind us of endings, but also of cycles that begin again. The season’s quiet moods—misty mornings, longer nights, the scent of woodsmoke—create a setting ripe for reflection.

Imagery of the Season

Think of all the sensory details autumn offers:

  • The crunch of leaves beneath your shoes
  • The golden glow of late afternoon light
  • The taste of apple cider or pumpkin bread
  • The hush of wind moving through bare branches

These small observations can spark a poem. Sometimes the most ordinary details—the way sunlight filters through amber leaves or the feel of a warm sweater against cool skin—can open a door into deeper meaning.

Prompts for Autumn Writing

If you’d like to write into the season, here are a few prompts to get you started:

  • Write a poem from the perspective of a single leaf as it falls.
  • Use the harvest as a metaphor—what have you gathered from this year, and what are you ready to let go of?
  • Describe an autumn memory from your childhood. How does it feel different now?
  • Capture a moment at dusk in autumn, when day and night seem to blur.

Autumn as a Reflection

Beyond the natural beauty, autumn often invites us to pause and reflect. It reminds us of impermanence, but also of preparation—the way the earth rests before spring. As writers, we can use this season to ask ourselves: What am I ready to release? What do I want to carry with me into winter?

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The Rituals of Writing

Every poet has little rituals that bring them closer to the page. Maybe it’s a steaming cup of coffee before dawn, or the habit of drafting longhand with a favorite pen. Some poets read a poem aloud before writing, while others light a candle, put on music, or take a walk to clear their mind.

These rituals aren’t just quirks—they’re part of the creative process. They remind us to slow down, create space, and signal to our brains: it’s time to write.

Why Rituals Matter

Rituals create a bridge between the everyday world and the imaginative one. They help us shift gears, leaving behind distractions and entering a mindset where words can flow more freely. A ritual can also provide comfort. On days when writing feels intimidating, returning to a familiar routine—pouring that cup of coffee, arranging your desk just so—can make the process feel approachable again.

Examples of Writing Rituals

Writers throughout history have relied on their own unique rituals:

  • Maya Angelou rented a hotel room to write, bringing only a dictionary, Bible, deck of cards, and a bottle of sherry.
  • Virginia Woolf wrote while standing at a desk.
  • Toni Morrison famously described watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee before writing, saying the ritual helped her “enter the day and the world with confidence.”

Your rituals don’t need to be elaborate. It might be as simple as setting a timer, opening your notebook, and breathing deeply three times before beginning.

Creating Your Own Ritual

If you don’t already have a writing ritual, experiment with building one this week. Here are a few ideas:

  • Set the mood: Light a candle, play instrumental music, or sit by a window.
  • Use a special object: A notebook, pen, or mug you only use while writing.
  • Mark the time: Write at the same hour each day, even if only for ten minutes.
  • Transition in: Read a favorite poem aloud before starting your own draft.

The Takeaway

Rituals are about creating consistency and connection. They don’t guarantee brilliance, but they do invite presence. Over time, your brain will begin to recognize the signals—this is writing time. And in that space, the words often come more easily.

So this week, ask yourself: what’s your writing ritual? If you don’t have one yet, perhaps it’s time to discover the small, steady practices that will carry you into your next poem.

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Labor of Love: Why Poets Keep Showing Up

Looking back on Labor Day, we’re thinking about the work behind the work—the effort it takes to write, revise, and return to the page again and again. Poetry, after all, is labor. Not the kind that comes with timecards and breaks, but the kind that demands heart, attention, and resilience.

At Kentucky State Poetry Society, we believe that poetic labor is worth honoring. Whether you’re squeezing in a stanza before bed or wrestling with a manuscript draft, your work matters. It matters to readers, to your community, and to you.

So this week, we invite you to reflect on what brings you back to the page. Is it a sense of wonder? A need for truth? The joy of shaping sound and image?

Here’s to the labor of poetry. The quiet kind. The bold kind. The kind that helps us make sense of the world—and ourselves.

Upcoming Craft Talk with Clay Matthews on September 16

What do marionettes and musical chords, tapestries and trapezes have in common with poetry?

Join poet and professor Clay Matthews for String Theory: An Exploration of Poetry that Employs Multiple Threads—a craft talk dedicated to unraveling the secret scaffolding that holds our poems together.

🗓️ Tuesday, September 16
 🕖 7:00 PM (ET)
 📍 Live via Zoom (Free with registration)

In this generative workshop, Matthews invites poets to consider how dissonant images, voices, and themes can be braided into a single cohesive piece. What makes some poems feel seamless, even when they’re full of contrast and contradiction? How do you give the illusion of flow when the content is anything but linear?

We’ll read examples of multi-threaded poems, explore the craft choices that allow those poems to sing, and dive into prompts designed to help participants experiment with their own layered drafts. Expect lively discussion, a little risk, and a lot of surprise.

This session is part of our Kentucky Voices programming and is open to all experience levels. Whether you’re working on a sprawling epic or a tight lyric, this talk will offer strategies to balance complexity with clarity.

Registration is open now – don’t miss out!

Ready to start your membership with Kentucky State Poetry Society? Become a member today!

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A Conversation in Verse: Katerina Stoykova Interviews Silas House on All These Ghosts

Kentucky State Poetry Society is delighted to share that our President, Katerina Stoykova, recently sat down with former Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House for a thoughtful conversation about his debut poetry collection, All These Ghosts. The interview aired on Katerina’s long-running literary radio show and podcast, Accents, which highlights the voices of writers and artists with ties to Kentucky and beyond.

In their discussion, Silas reflects on the inspirations behind All These Ghosts, the personal and cultural histories that shape his work, and how writing poetry offers a distinct lens from his well-known fiction and nonfiction. The exchange is both intimate and wide-ranging, offering listeners an inside look at the craft and heart behind the book.

You can listen to the full interview here: https://www.wuky.org/podcast/accents/2025-08-27/silas-house-2025

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5 Quick Prompts to Spark Your Late-Summer Poems

Not sure what to write about lately? Kentucky State Poetry Society is here to help you keep your creative momentum going. Here are five summer-themed prompts to help you dive into your next draft:

  1. The Last Thing That Melted: A memory, an emotion, or something literal. What disappeared in the heat?
  2. Yellow That Isn’t Sunshine: Explore a color through unexpected objects or moods.
  3. The View from a Back Porch: Real or imagined. What changes from morning to evening?
  4. Instructions for a Drought: Write a how-to poem for surviving without something essential.
  5. Something Ripening Too Fast: What in your life or mind is reaching its peak too quickly?

Write one, write them all, or mix and match. Be sure to tag @kystatepoetry on Instagram if you share your responses—we love celebrating your work and your words!

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Poetry Out Loud: Join Our Virtual Open Mic August 19

Whether you’re a seasoned performer or just testing your poetic voice, there’s something electric about sharing your work aloud. That’s why the Kentucky State Poetry Society is hosting a Virtual Open Mic on:

🗓️ Tuesday, August 19
🕒 8:00 PM CT
📍 Live via Zoom (open to all)

This is a welcoming space for poets across Kentucky (and beyond!) to come together, share work, and celebrate each other’s creativity. Read something new, revisit an old favorite, or simply join to listen. No pressure, just poetry.

Need a few tips before you step up to the mic? Here’s our advice:

  • Pick a piece that feels honest to you.
  • Practice reading it aloud with clarity and intention.
  • Time yourself (3 minutes max is a good rule of thumb).
  • Support fellow readers with snaps, emojis, and encouragement in the chat!

This event is free, fun, and full of community. We hope you’ll join us for a night of poetic connection!

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What Form Can Teach Us: Reflecting on Part One of the Poet Laureate Craft Talk Series

On August 9, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell kicked off our exclusive three-part craft talk series with a deep, illuminating conversation that invited KSPS members to reconsider what poetic form can offer—not just as a structure, but as a lifeline.

Through personal anecdotes and rich literary history, Kathleen traced the arc of a centuries-old form and showed how its familiar shape can be both a creative challenge and a surprising comfort when the words won’t come. Attendees were offered a glimpse into how form can offer clarity, guidance, and even play—especially during times of creative drought.

Each poet left with something different: a question, a new draft, a memory of rhythm, a spark. That’s the magic of this series—not just the knowledge shared, but the space made for reflection, curiosity, and community.

Part Two arrives in October, and it promises a new set of tools for writers looking to sharpen, shape, and deepen their poems. Kathleen will return with more insights and hands-on strategies, this time exploring the art of revision—and how to turn the raw material of inspiration into something refined, resonant, and whole.

This free virtual event will again be capped at 55 participants. Registration is open now.

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Tuning the Strings: What to Expect from Clay Matthews’ Craft Talk

Kentucky State Poetry Society is thrilled to welcome poet and professor Clay Matthews for the second installment of our summer craft talk series. Mark your calendars:

September 16, 2025
7:00 PM ET
Live via Zoom (registration details on the Events tab of our website!)

In his talk, String Theory: An Exploration of Poetry that Employs Multiple Threads, Clay will help us unpack the hidden strings that hold a poem together. From musical compositions to circus acts, poems can be complex, layered performances—but when crafted intentionally, they sing. This session will explore how poets can weave disparate images, voices, and topics into a cohesive whole. Expect a blend of discussion, close reading, and prompts that will help you stretch your creative thinking and “knit together” something new.

Whether you’re a fan of Clay’s work or simply curious about how to braid complexity into your poems, this event will offer ideas and inspiration for all experience levels. These craft talks are only accessible to KSPS members. Ready to start your annual membership? 

Already a member? Learn more about our craft talk series and, to Clay’s talk on September 16, bring the energy to explore poems that balance multiple threads—we’ll explore together how and why it works.

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Craft Talk with Kentucky Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell

The Kentucky State Poetry Society is proud to host the first in a three-part Poet Laureate Craft Talk Series featuring Kathleen Driskell, acclaimed poet, educator, and Kentucky’s current Poet Laureate.

Join us for Part One of this exciting series on
🗓️ Friday, August 9
🕚 11:00 AM (ET)
📍 Live via Zoom (Registration required—limited to 55 attendees)

As the author of several celebrated poetry collections and the Chair of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University, Kathleen brings a wealth of insight and generosity to every discussion about poetic craft. In this opening session, she’ll explore essential techniques and creative strategies to strengthen your writing, regardless of where you are in your journey.

This craft talk is part of a larger three-part series, exclusively hosted by KSPS, highlighting the wisdom and work of Kentucky’s newest Poet Laureate. Stay tuned for details on Part Two and Part Three—coming soon!

Spots are limited to 55 participants, so be sure to register early.

This event is free for all poetry lovers, but if you’re able, we invite you to support our programming through a suggested donation via PayPal. Every contribution helps KSPS bring meaningful opportunities like this to our community.

Whether you’re a long-time fan of Kathleen’s work or discovering her for the first time, this is a rare opportunity to learn from one of Kentucky’s most powerful poetic voices.

📣 Coming up in the series: Future sessions with Kathleen will continue this fall and winter. Follow KSPS for upcoming dates and topics!

Want to be the first to hear about events like this? Become a KSPS member today!