Description: Every schoolchild knows that poetry “doesn’t have to rhyme.” And it’s true—there are no rules in poetry! Yet most of us still take pleasure in the sounds of rhythmic, rhyming language, whether these appear in a poem, in a slogan, or in the lyrics of a pop song. The use of meter and rhyme is a celebrated discipline, with well-established standards, conventions, and if not rules, then rules-of-thumb. This is a craft and workshop hybrid course that aims to provide an introduction for those who would like to try writing poems in meter and rhyme. We will focus on learnable skills and vocabulary and most of all on getting lots of practice.

Instructor: Matthew Buckley Smith

Dates: Begins Tuesday, January 14, 2025 and meets every Tuesday for six weeks total

Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Level: Beginner and above

8 seats max

Location: Golden Fig Books, 200 N. Greensboro St. Suite A-17, Carrboro

$615: true price

$349: base price

$374, $399, $449: donate an extra $25, $50, or $100 to our scholarship fund

(Returning students receive 10 percent off).

A note on pricing:  the “true price” reflects the true cost of the class, which includes paying a fair wage to our staff and instructors, rental fees for the Redbud headquarters and for the community spaces where we host our classes, website and administrative/commerce fees, outreach and advertising to spread the word about our offerings, and the coordination and administration for our community classes, which serve people who could not otherwise access creative writing. We’re not a university or a large corporation and that means we don’t have an operating budget we can rely on; we’re proud to be a small, local, women- and minority-run business that is passionate about bringing the transformative power of the arts to our community. Your tuition helps Redbud with the critical work of keeping the arts accessible to the public. 

We also offer students a chance to donate to our scholarship fund. At check-out, you will be given the option of choosing a donor price. If you choose one of these prices, the extra $25, $50, or $100 will go towards scholarships for students who would not be able to afford our classes otherwise.  Thank you in advance for considering making a contribution to inclusivity and access!

Read the fine print, including our refund policy, here.