[X] for Poets: “Reviews & Interviews for Poets” with Jake Marmer
Register for this workshop here.
You can order Jake’s book here, with a percentage of every purchase going to support Yetzirah.
Session 1: Reviews and Interviews Are Poetry Too
Finding yourself in the poetry of others is a revelatory experience—and it is probably why so many of us write poetry in the first place. But how does one articulate that revelation and put it into words? How do we illuminate our experience for others and help them see what we see in the poems we love? Reviewing new poetry collections and interviewing contemporary poets is a quintessential part of being a poet: it is about reading deeply, learning our craft, sharing and asking questions—but also making a crucial contribution to the poetic ecosystem. After all, if we, poets, do not bring a spotlight to each other’s work, who will? In this workshop, we’ll read examples of poet-critics at their best, and attempt our own reviews and interview questions—discovering that the act of writing about poetry is itself a poetic act.
Session 2: Poetics, Pre-Faces, and Pre-Rambles
You wrote a book of poems. You found one of your many voices. You came up with a new poetic form. An ancient poetic form found you. Writing a preface helps you frame the reader’s experience—and more importantly, it helps you articulate your own practice and vision. And yet, how many prefaces have you read that actually captivated you? So many prefaces out there are perfunctory, indulgent, plain boring. In this workshop, we’ll explore the work of poets Jerome Rothenberg and David Meltzer, who did not take their prefaces lightly but experienced them as extensions of their poetry—quiet manifestos, expanded conversations, mysterious strolls behind the curtain. We’ll each attempt our own poetics statement, one that is every bit as alive as our poems.
Workshop Dates & Cost
November 11 & 18, 2026, 7:00-8:00 PM
$72—standard registration
$59—18% discounted registration for Yetzirah Members (you can become a member here)
*As we want our offerings to be accessible to all, there is a pay-what-you-can option if this pricing is a hardship. No one will be turned away for lack of funds, but please contact Program Coordinator Kyra Lisse at klisse@yetzirahpoets.org if you would like a sliding-scale ticket.
About Jake
Jake Marmer is a writer, performer, and educator. His previous books include Cosmic Diaspora (Station Hill Press, 2020), The Neighbor Out of Sound (The Sheep Meadow Press, 2018), and Jazz Talmud (The Sheep Meadow Press, 2012). He has also released two klez-jazz-poetry records: Purple Tentacles of Thought and Desire (2020, with Cosmic Diaspora Trio) and Hermeneutic Stomp (Blue Fringe Music, 2013). Born in the provincial steppes of Ukraine — in a city renamed four times in the past hundred years — he lives in Philadelphia, PA. More at jakemarmer.com.
