First Impressions: A Workshop on Titling Poetry and Prose

In this two-hour workshop, you’ll learn a variety of strategies for generating titles for poetry and prose and apply them to works in progress. We’ll explore the many roles a title can play—from establishing tone and context to creating tension and deepening meaning—and how to choose the one that best serves your work. Part instruction, part brainstorming, and part sharing, you’ll leave with a range of potential titles and the confidence to select the strongest option. Choose from one of two sessions depending on your time zone and schedule. Participants should bring 2–5 poems, stories, essays, or memoir excerpts in progress that need titles (or better titles).