
Poetry Forge makes space for poets & secret poets
through online and in person writing workshops & retreats, practice periods, creative mentorship
& an annual manuscript incubator called A Body of Work.
All are welcome.
Explore
This is imagination school
Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.
—Audre Lorde

"It is no small thing to create and hold welcoming, creative, beautiful, soft space in this world, and Holly is doing it. And she is teaching by example, which is of course the best way to teach."
—Kim F., Poetry Forge Student since 2020
Credo
Our birthright is imagination.
We don’t forget.
We give voice and shape to what must be said, heard, shared, and understood.
We pay attention.
We practice softly, softly.
We are tougher than you’d think.
We save ourselves—we don’t wait.
We invite our friends.
We materialize our inner lives.
We make spaces where poetry lives on and beyond the page.
With our words we create realities.
Poetry is our way of being in the world.

Workshops
& Classes
Now enrolling
TELL EVERYONE
Now, today, I shall
sing beautifully for
my friends’ pleasure
SAPPHO (Mary Barnard, Translation)
Join Us
Poetry Forge offers year-round programming for emerging writers from across North America, Europe and beyond. We also offer free workshops at the end of the year and once each spring. Subscribe to the mailing list to receive an occasional letter, Ars Poetica, containing resources and reflections of interest to poets and secret poets, news about upcoming offerings, and musings about life on the southern coast of Maine.
