Reading a good poem can feel like watching a magic trick. “How did they do that?” we wonder. In this seminar/workshop, we’ll take cues from the masters of illusion as we note the parallels between poetry and stage magic. From transforming the everyday into the extraordinary, to learning the importance of always putting oneself in the place of the audience, we’ll discuss methods to elevate our poems into performances that leave our readers smiling, surprised, and eager for more.

Chad Abushanab  is the author of The Last Visit, which won Donald Justice Poetry  Prize. His poems have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The   Believer, Best New Poets, Poetry Daily, Birmingham   Poetry Review, Verse Daily, Ecotone, Southern Poetry   Review, Shenandoah, The Hopkins Review, and 32 Poems,   among others. He is an Assistant Professor of English at Bemidji State   University in Minnesota.