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July 9, 2026 at 6:30pm

Writers Workshop: Poetry Writing

July 9, 2026, 6:30pm–8:00pm

Enjoy free summer writing workshops held in our outdoor Reading Room.

Consider it the caviar of literature, each word a tiny egg full of tremendous taste. To write poetry, one must learn the art of packing a maximal punch in a minimal number of words. In this free workshop, Gotham Poetry instructor Mary Donnelly guides participants through some of poetry’s most essential tenets. You’ll learn some craft, do some writing, and have a chance to share your work, all in the heart of New York City.

About the instructor
Mary Donnelly has managed, produced and/or edited video, print, and digital projects for such companies and organizations as Arts & Entertainment, Ovation, iNEXT TV, and The Rockefeller University Press, as well as various non-profit clients through Generation Branding and Communication. Her poetry has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Indiana Review, Prairie Schooner, The Literary Review and The Yale Review, and she published the chapbook Mad World Colored Oil (Dancing Girl Press). She is an editor for DMQ Review. She is a visiting faculty member for Sierra Nevada College’s low-residency MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts. She holds a BA in English literature from Columbia University and an MFA in Poetry from Bennington College.

2026 lineup

July 9, 2026 – August 13, 2026
Thursdays, 6:30pm-8pm

July 9: Poetry Writing with Mary Donnelly

July 16: Creative Writing 101 with Arlaina Tibensky

July 23: Screenwriting with C.C. Webster

July 30: Fiction Writing with Susan Breen

August 6: Humor Writing with Alexander Steele

August 13: Essay & Opinion Writing with Kelly Caldwell