RIDGWAY – Mention reading poetry and many of us squirm in discomfort, remembering struggling to understand it in school and our careful avoidance of it ever since. But poetry isn’t meant to confuse, and much of today’s contemporary poetry is accessible and enjoyable to all.

Weehawken Creative Arts will offer a workshop for both writers and readers of poetry, or anyone wanting to know more, called For the Joy of It – Reading and Writing Poetry, led by Beth Paulson on Oct. 11 in Ridgway, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

The purpose of this workshop is to acquaint students with the work of several contemporary poets including reading poems by Ted Kooser, Tony Barnstone, Billy Collins, Lisel Mueller, Mary Oliver, and Naomi Shihab Nye. Participants will look closely at their poems and learn how each uses specific techniques to create poetry readers can understand and relate to in personal ways.

Students will also work with Paulson to see how they, as writers, can use what they read as springboards for their own writing. Using one or more of the poems that the class has read and discussed, participants will craft poems using them as their initial inspiration.

Those participating in this fun workshop can also expect to discuss the value of reading poetry, and suggestions will be given on how to read poems to get the most from them. The goal of the workshop is not to make everyone a poet, but to show how reading and writing poetry can be a joyful not a fearful experience.

Paulson taught college writing for over twenty years at California State University Los Angeles, and now lives near Ouray, where she teaches writing workshops.

Her poems have been widely published in literary magazines and her work is included in anthologies published by Houghton Mifflin and University of Texas press. She has two published collections of poems, The Truth About Thunder (2001) and The Company of Trees (2004), as well as a CD of nature poetry, By Stone By Water. Paulson’s writing was nominated for the 2007 Pushcart Prize.

This workshop is offered for $72 for Weehawken Creative Arts members who pay by Oct. 7 or $80 for members who pay after Oct. 7. Those who are not members of Weehawken Creative Arts can enroll for $80 if paying before Oct. 7, or $88 after Oct. 7.

A complete set of details, including a supply list and online registration form can be found at www.weehawkenarts.org or by calling Ashley King at WCA: 970/318-0150.