This workshop will examine lyric, lyrics, and lyrical modes—chord-based, melody-based, and forms of “free” lyric. Using terms from music—rhythm, tone, rhyme, and stress—we will discuss how lyrics create consciousness, what makes them successfully communicate. Participants will compose original songs and discuss existing songs from around the world Prior musical knowledge and  experience is greatly encouraged, but not necessary. Open-mindedness and risk-taking is mandatory.

HENRY FINCH was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and grew up in Henrico. He holds a BA in English from Appalachian State University and an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His writing appears in The Green Mountains Review, Midwest Quarterly Review, Seattle Review, North American Review, Massachusetts Review, Missouri Review, Denver Quarterly, and many other publications. He is an editor at Crevice, a journal of international literature based in Romania. He has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa, Schoodic Arts For All, Waynflete, Riley School, and throughout coastal Maine with grants from the Maine Community Foundation and Brooksville Education Foundation. What is a Poem?, a collaborative book written by Brooksville Elementary School students and letterpress-printed by Hither & Yon Press in Harborside, is in circulation at the Blue Hill Public Library.  Henry is an accomplished musician and songwriter playing by himself and with groups in Maine and Vermont.

Location: George Stevens Academy, Esther Wood Room (see address and map in sidebar.) Registration required with workshop fee of $35. If you have questions about this workshop, you can email word.bluehill@gmail.com or call Blue Hill Books at (207) 374-5632.