Short Form Memoir: Poetry as Narrative with Katie Manning

Please join us for our November IMWA monthly meeting featuring award-winning poet Katie Manning, author of eight poetry collections.

An accessible and versatile form, the poetry chapbook is a collection of no more than 30 poems, united around a central theme. Along with the expediency and freedom of a contained, shorter project, the chapbook can offer writers the validation of early publication and serve as an entry point into biographical narratives that may later sustain a larger story. This discussion will cover tips on harnessing shorter poetic forms for memoir, both as standalone projects and as steps on a path toward shaping a book.

Author Bio: Katie Manning is the founding editor of Whale Road Review and a professor of writing at Point Loma Nazarene University. Winner of the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award for Tasty Other, she’s the author of eight poetry collections, most recently Hereverent (Agape Editions, 2023) and How to Play (Louisiana Literature Press, 2022). Her writing has been featured on Poetry Unbound, Verse Daily, and many other venues. Find her online at katiemanningpoet.com.