Poetry for Every Writer: 1 Session Generative Seminar on October 13

$150.00

Monday, 4-6pm Pacific Time, October 13

Welcome to the first course in the Margo Steines Creative X series! MSCX courses are serial seminar offerings, presented in collaboration with the writers, facilitators, and educators I am most moved by.

By them, through me, for you.

First up: Margo Steines Creative X Dirtyverbs

It’s often the case that prose writers and artists hold both a reverence and fear of poetry. “Poetry is the most pure form of writing, it offers the most freedom,” they might say in one breath, followed by “and I don’t understand it at all.” At the heart of this contradiction is the truth that too much creative freedom can be intimidating: when anything is possible, where and how do we begin? This course is an invitation to demystify the tools and processes of poetry writing, thus making them available to writers and artists across disciplines and genres.

We’ll take an all-levels approach that explores insights from “the basics” of line breaks and the mechanics of metaphor to what can be learned from exploring the materiality of language and linguistic logics. Together we’ll read poems by Daniel Borzutsky, Marie Howe, Simon J. Ortiz, Saretta Morgan, and others.

A variety of techniques for structuring a creative practice will be offered with the understanding that poetry is a process, not a product.

The course is open to all writers and artists of any experience level. Some previous experimentation with writing is recommended but not required.

At the conclusion of the class, students will leave with new creative experiments to use to inform their own work, as well as the seeds of new writing, poems or otherwise.

Please note that this course is taught in its entirety by Logan Phillips, aka Dirtyverbs.

Who is Dirtyverbs?

I’m glad you asked.

Logan Phillips works in poetry and culture, known for his cross-disciplinary artistic practice which combines spoken word, video projection and performance art. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of performance, music and land-based, community-centered projects in the US, Mexico, Colombia, England and beyond. 

Phillips is also an award-winning bilingual (English / Spanish) educator with a diverse teaching background. Over the last 20 years he has lead seminars, keynotes and workshops for learners from eight to eighty years old, having presented at over 150 schools and institutions. He has taught courses in writing, poetry, history and literature at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at universities in the US and Mexico, including at The University of Arizona, where he completed an MFA in Creative Writing - Poetry. He is a two-time Writer-in-Residence for the Pima County Public Library in Tucson and most recently has lead a year of professional development trainings for teachers in Tucson Unified School District’s Opening Minds through the Arts program. 

He is author of the poetry book Sonoran Strange (West End Press / University of New Mexico Press, 2015), and the hybrid memoir Reckon, forthcoming from The University of Arizona Press in February 2026. More at dirtyverbs.com and @dirtyverbs on Instagram.

We are offering 4 full scholarships to this course to writers who would not otherwise have the means to attend. To apply, please send a short note to Margo & Logan with a few sentences about what you’re hoping to get out of the course. 

This is a 1 session seminar. We meet on Zoom, Monday October 13, from 4-6pm Pacific

Monday, 4-6pm Pacific Time, October 13

Welcome to the first course in the Margo Steines Creative X series! MSCX courses are serial seminar offerings, presented in collaboration with the writers, facilitators, and educators I am most moved by.

By them, through me, for you.

First up: Margo Steines Creative X Dirtyverbs

It’s often the case that prose writers and artists hold both a reverence and fear of poetry. “Poetry is the most pure form of writing, it offers the most freedom,” they might say in one breath, followed by “and I don’t understand it at all.” At the heart of this contradiction is the truth that too much creative freedom can be intimidating: when anything is possible, where and how do we begin? This course is an invitation to demystify the tools and processes of poetry writing, thus making them available to writers and artists across disciplines and genres.

We’ll take an all-levels approach that explores insights from “the basics” of line breaks and the mechanics of metaphor to what can be learned from exploring the materiality of language and linguistic logics. Together we’ll read poems by Daniel Borzutsky, Marie Howe, Simon J. Ortiz, Saretta Morgan, and others.

A variety of techniques for structuring a creative practice will be offered with the understanding that poetry is a process, not a product.

The course is open to all writers and artists of any experience level. Some previous experimentation with writing is recommended but not required.

At the conclusion of the class, students will leave with new creative experiments to use to inform their own work, as well as the seeds of new writing, poems or otherwise.

Please note that this course is taught in its entirety by Logan Phillips, aka Dirtyverbs.

Who is Dirtyverbs?

I’m glad you asked.

Logan Phillips works in poetry and culture, known for his cross-disciplinary artistic practice which combines spoken word, video projection and performance art. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of performance, music and land-based, community-centered projects in the US, Mexico, Colombia, England and beyond. 

Phillips is also an award-winning bilingual (English / Spanish) educator with a diverse teaching background. Over the last 20 years he has lead seminars, keynotes and workshops for learners from eight to eighty years old, having presented at over 150 schools and institutions. He has taught courses in writing, poetry, history and literature at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at universities in the US and Mexico, including at The University of Arizona, where he completed an MFA in Creative Writing - Poetry. He is a two-time Writer-in-Residence for the Pima County Public Library in Tucson and most recently has lead a year of professional development trainings for teachers in Tucson Unified School District’s Opening Minds through the Arts program. 

He is author of the poetry book Sonoran Strange (West End Press / University of New Mexico Press, 2015), and the hybrid memoir Reckon, forthcoming from The University of Arizona Press in February 2026. More at dirtyverbs.com and @dirtyverbs on Instagram.

We are offering 4 full scholarships to this course to writers who would not otherwise have the means to attend. To apply, please send a short note to Margo & Logan with a few sentences about what you’re hoping to get out of the course. 

This is a 1 session seminar. We meet on Zoom, Monday October 13, from 4-6pm Pacific