Poetry Course with Rochelle Potkar (Live, Online, Small group)
August 29 – August 30
Poetry reflects the voice of the heart and soul. It can be healing and transformative. Writing poems helps one deal with the inner turmoil while providing comfort in words. Poems encourage interconnectedness in the universe.
Each poem has a distinct rhythm that inspires poets to dream, imagine, observe and think. At a time when a global pandemic has created chaos all around, poetry can be the quietude our souls are looking for.
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Meld words to create magic. An award-winning poet leads you through the wonderland of poetry. Understand & appreciate poetry. Then write your own poem(s) under her guidance.
Rochelle Potkar leads this poetry course. Rochelle’s profile and the programs details are shared below.
This workshop is spread over two days:
29th August 2026 : From 10 AM to 1 PM and
30th August 2026 : From 9.30AM to 1.30 PM
Objectives of this Poetry Course
- To appreciate Haiku, Haibun, free verse poetry: themes, scape, and canvases
- To learn techniques of link, shift and juxtaposition
- To concentrate on rhythm over rhyme, finding sound and music in words
- To write and participate in a collective classroom critique – understanding the Art of Editing.
This two day poetry course is for.
- Poetry lovers who are keen to explore the art of writing meaningful poetry.
- Prose writers who want to learn the technique of lyricism
Participation in this workshop is limited to 12 only and we enroll approved participants on a first-come first-served basis. For any questions. WhatsApp or Signal us on +91 7303516665.
About the Instructor
Rochelle Potkar
Widely anthologized, Rochelle Potkar is a prize-winning poet, author, and screenwriter.
Her books include Four Degrees of Separation, Paper Asylum – shortlisted for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020, Bombay Hangovers, Coins In Rivers and The D’Costa Family.
Alumna of Iowa’s International Writing Program and a Charles Wallace Writer’s fellow, University of Stirling, she was invited thrice to Iowa’s International Writing Programs of Summer Institute 2019 and Between the Lines 2022, 2023 as a mentor.
Her first screenplay was an NFDC Screenwriters Lab selection and won a quarterfinalist at the Atlanta Film Festival. Two of her projects were in the Top 30 Book to Box Office vertical of NFDC Film Bazaar 2023, Goa.
Her short film scripts Catharsis won Highly Recommended at the 2023 International Literary Prize by Hammond House, UK and Salad was on the Selected List of Mumbai Indie Film Society competition 2024.
Program Details
Workshop Outlines
Workshop 1: Haiku & Haibun
Duration – 4 hours
Objectives of the workshop –
To appreciate haiku and haibun
To learn techniques of link and shift and juxtaposition
To write and participate in a collective classroom critique – understanding the Art of Editing.
Elaboration –
The Japanese short poetry forms bring to us haiku and haibun.
While haiku is two images juxtaposed in three lines, the haibun narrates epiphanies.
The haiku is a classical building block of lyricism. Once you learn how to ‘assemble’ a haiku with the most succinct and distinct imagery, you can channel these lessons in brevity to all other writing forms, be they the free verse, short story or prose, or even a screenplay.
The haibun is a delicate form that weaves prose and haiku into a seamless narrative.
Many-a-times, a writer may feel they are better at writing stories or better expressing in poetry, but the haibun form is all-embracing, allowing you to be both poet and storyteller, balancing the tale and the verse with economy, conciseness, and lyricism.
Workshop 2: Free verse poetry
Duration – 3 hours
Objectives of the workshop –
To appreciate free verse poetry: themes, scape, and canvases
To concentrate on rhythm over rhyme, finding sound and music in words
To write and participate in a collective classroom critique – understanding the Art of Editing.
Elaboration –
The free verse poetry form set us free from writing in metered verse for instance the sonnet, ghazals, pantoum, villanelle. What it withheld is: rhythm and the tightrope walk between constellation concept across the canvas of a poem while listening to the sound in words.The free verse poetry form thus allows maximum fragmentation and experimentation of structure.
FAQs
- Why should I choose HWR Workshops?
- Personal Attention: We don’t take more than 10 students in a class. You get a lot of personal attention and feedback. No classrooms of 20-30 people or one-way pre-recorded videos here.
- Class Quality: For most courses, we filter our participants. You can’t just pay and sign up. We need to see a writing sample (in our application form) to ensure the class is of a uniform standard.
- Quality of Faculty: No lightweights here. Many of our faculty are award-winners. All are experts and great teachers. We don’t settle for average.
- A Decade’s Experience:The Himalayan Writing Retreat was founded in 2016. we’ve been doing teaching programs for writers for ten years. we;ve hosted over 1000 people, and have yet to have an unhappy participant. It shows up in everything we do.
- Feedback scores: Across courses, we are rated 4.9/5, or higher. You can read our reviews HERE.
- Do I get a certificate of participation?
Yes, certificates are available on request.
- Any discounts for students / other categories?
At the Himalayan Writing Retreat, we follow a strict No-Discount policy.
- Is the workshop fee refundable?
Our cancellation policy is as follows:
Online Writing Workshop:
* 95% refund if cancellation 2 weeks before the event start date
* 50% refund if cancellation one week before the start date
* No refund if cancellation less than one week before the start date.
Workshops in the Himalayas (INR Denominated) :
* 95% refund if cancellation 4 weeks before the event start date
* 50% refund if cancellation two weeks before the start date
* 0% refund if cancellation less than two weeks before the start date.
- Is the Himalayan Writing Retreat a business or an NGO?
The Himalayan Writing Retreat is a social enterprise. It works closely and actively to support the unique and precious Chirag School. On average, HWR raises INR 8 Lakhs every year to support the Chirag School.
Have more questions?
Feel free to write to us at:
info@himalayanwritingretreat.com
Or connect with us at
+91 73035 16665
(Call | WA | Signal)
Event Summary
- Taxes not included in the price
- USD 100 for international payments
Our Cancellation Policy:
- 100% refund ( less 5% of total programme fee) on cancellation 40 days or more before event start date.
- 50% refund if cancellation is between 20-40 days before start date.
- 0% refund if cancellation is less than 20 days before start date.