“Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world.” - Percy Bysshe Shelley
To help writers of all genres learn how to choose the right words for creating vivid images, the South Bay Writers Club will welcome poet and teacher Nils Michals as our August speaker.
Nils has been teaching at West Valley College for the past ten years. His journey to becoming a teacher was not one that he would have expected when he first started out. Although Nils has always wanted to be a writer, he kept his poetry a secret when he was a shy high school student in San Diego County. It wasn’t until he pursued his MFA in Poetry at the University of Montana, when he was required to teach a composition course, that he discovered how much he enjoyed teaching. AIn his position at West Valley, he has been able to try out new ideas in the classroom. One of his favorites was a class that he developed on children’s literature, specifically around the idea of “choose your own adventure” in which students decided on adventures and then ultimately wrote their own book in this genre. As a poet himself, he particularly enjoys teaching classes on the literature of poetry, and recently taught a class focused on California poets.
In addition to teaching, Nils is also the faculty advisor for “Voices,” the West Valley Literary magazine. He has also been the leader of two study abroad sessions. For two weeks this summer, he led students on a literary journey through Ireland, where they saw the Book of Kells and the James Joyce Museum in Dublin, and signed the Peace Wall in Belfast. They also had the honor of meeting Stephen Sexton, one of Nils’ favorite contemporary poets.
Another favorite poet, Cole Swensen is one of his heroes, and he was deeply honored that she wrote a blurb for Lure, his first collection of poetry, published in 2004. He is also the author of Come Down to Earth, published in 2014 and his most recent collection, Gembox, which was the winner of the 2018 Washington Poetry Prize from the Word Works. His letterpress chapbook Room, was published in 2020.
When Nils isn’t teaching at West Valley or writing poetry, he enjoys creating hand-made quilts, a hobby he took up during the pandemic. He lives in the Santa Cruz mountains, not far from UCSC from which he graduated with a BA in Modern Literary Studies.
During his presentation, Nils will describe how another of his favorite poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, was influenced by his viewing of paintings by Cezanne. He will lead our group through some hands-on exercises that explore how we as writers can approach images. You will not want to miss this interactive presentation and the opportunity to try your hand at some fun and creative writing exercises with the noted poet and masterful teacher, Nils Michals.
Also check out other Arts events in Saratoga, Literary Art events in Saratoga, Workshops in Saratoga.
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