The Breath of the Line

This workshop examines how enjambment, line length, and whitespace can help create meaning. Through close reading of poets like William Carlos Williams, Sharon Olds, Robert Creeley, and others, participants will analyze how line breaks create delay, misdirection, and layered interpretation within a poem. Writing exercises focus on using the line as a unit of tension, where each break produces a temporary meaning that is then revised or complicated by what follows. The goal is to develop sharper control over how a poem unfolds, allowing lines to generate pressure, ambiguity, and surprise.

Join Jeffrey Heath in this upcoming workshop!

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Jeffrey Heath was born in Amarillo, Tx and raised in South Florida. His first chapbook, American Drug Poems (2000) coincided with his time on the poetry slam scene where he represented the city of West Palm Beach at the National Poetry Slam (2001, 2002). Jeffrey’s work has appeared online and in print in several literary and poetry journals, including Eunoia Review, Sky Island Journal, Third Wednesday Magazine, Pictura Journal, Mulskinner Journal, wildscape. Literary Journal, among others; and as a featured poet in Neologism Poetry Journal and on Goodreads. He is the founding editor of January House Literary Journal. His second book, Entropy Loop & Other Poems (2025), was an  Amazon bestseller. Jeffrey currently lives in Memphis, TN.

MEETING INFORMATION

This program will be presented at our upcoming PST meeting, to be held May 9, 2026, from 2:00-4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00-3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.