This course is for anyone who wants to listen to Rachel talk about 12 new books, and for anyone who wants to read, write and/or talk about books in a supportive and open community. No previous writing or reading experience is necessary.
Class meets (on zoom) on the last Tuesday of every month.
6:45pm-8pm for listeners and makers // 8pm-9:15pm ET for makers only .
Superfreaks by Arielle Greenberg (Sept)
Poetry as Spellcasting edited by Destiny Hemphill, Lisbeth White, and Tamiko Beyer (Oct)
Milkweed Smithereens by Bernadette Mayer (Dec 26)
The Ferguson Report by Nicole Sealey (Jan 30)
The Black Period by Hafizah Agustus Geter (Feb 27)
The Book by Mary Ruefle (March 26)
Bianca by Eugenia Leigh (April 30)
Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark (May 28)
SoundMachine by Rachel Zucker (June 25)
Tanya by Brenda Shaughnessy (July 30)
The Poet's Novel by Laynie Browne (Aug 27)
There are two engagement levels for “Reading with Rachel”: listeners or makers.
Both listeners and makers attend the first half of each class (6:45pm-8pm) which includes a 45-minute live-virtual conversation between Rachel and the author of the book (except for Mayer and Ruefle) and an opportunity to ask the author and/or Rachel questions.
The first half of class will be recorded and made available (for 7 days following recording) to those who registered but had to miss the live-virtual event.
The second half of class (8pm-9:15pm ET) is only for makers and includes further discussion of the book, how it can inspire, influence and support one’s artistic practices and projects, writing prompts (sometimes during class).
The suggested fee for listeners is $30/session; $150 for any 6 listener-only sessions (paid in advance)
The suggested fee for makers is $80/session or $400 for any 6/sessions (paid in advance).
All makers also receive two emails from Rachel that include writing and making prompts and a list of other related/recommended readings based on the book, invitation to a google group where makers may share work inspired by the books they are reading, and a monthly, drop-in live-virtual reading/writing/making playtime. These sessions take place the first Sunday of every month from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET (Dec 3; Jan 7 (‘24); Feb 4; Mar 3; April 7; May 5; June 2; July 7; Aug 4)
Please pay via venmo (Rachel-Zucker), zelle or check. Contact rachel [at] commonplacepod.com if you need a different way to pay or if you can’t pay all of any of the suggested price.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please reach out via email to sign up if you’d like to join but can’t pay all or any of the suggested price. Rachel Zucker is the author of twelve books of poetry and prose including The Poetics of Wrongness, SoundMachine and MOTHERs, and founder and host of the podcast Commonplace. In addition to working as a labor doula, childbirth educator, and pearl stringer, Rachel has taught writing for more than twenty-five years. She's taught people of all ages at the 92nd Street Y, Friends Seminary (K-4), Basic Trust Day Care, Antioch Low Residence Program, Yale, Columbia and, for the past thirteen years, graduate and undergraduates at New York University. She is founder and directrix of The Commonplace School for Embodied Poetics.
