When: Five Wednesdays, beginning October 17, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Where: Tannahill Auditorium, Schott Center, 310 W. Padre St.

Cost: Free

Instructor: Beth Taylor-Schott, Ph. D.

The Lowdown: Have you ever noticed that words from a poem or a song have a way of coming to you just when you need them, without even having to think about it? Ask around : you may be surprised at how many people were required to memorize poems when they were in school and later found those poems coming back to them at important and meaningful moments. That’s what happens when poetry becomes a part of you: It’s like having a treasure chest from which you can pluck that perfect phrase or express in the most beautiful language what’s in your heart or on your mind.

There is something magic about memorizing and reciting poems, and this five-week class gives you a chance to delve into that magic.

The instructor for the class, Beth Taylor-Schott, has taught art history and writing at UC Berkeley, USC, and UCSB. She also works as a Poet in the Schools, where she discovered the Poetry Out Loud program for high school students. The program was so inspiring that she started looking for ways to do the same thing with adults. Adult Ed turned out to be the perfect venue. Taylor-Schott will offer fun and easy tools for developing your memory skills, how to interpret a poem, and how to share poetry as a form of oral culture. She hopes that the class will attract poets and poetry lovers of all ages and levels of expertise.

If you’d like to connect with the power of poetry, of memory, or of the spoken word, this class is for you.

Beth Taylot-Schott

“Lot’s of people like to read and listen to poems, and this is a great class for them. But don’t underestimate what happens when you actively remember a poem, or when you perform it out loud for others. This is as close as most of us will ever come to reciting spells. It is the sort of thing that can change your life.”

– Beth Taylor-Schott, instructor

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