Make-Believe in the Modern Age

Have you ever thought about what it was like to live as a brick? Or Sweeney Todd? Or maybe even Superman? From the Academy of American Poets, persona poems are poems in which the poet speaks through an assumed voice, creating a distance between the writer and speaker that can result in finding  new truths previously left unconsidered.

In this workshop, we will be using the persona poem to convey thoughts, feelings, and ideas through the voice of a character of the author's choosing. In a phrase, telling our own stories through a perspective other than our own--finding our voice in another's mouth.

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RYAN BOYLAND is a writer, wanderer, medical student, and amateur astronomer currently based out of Omaha, Nebraska, where his love for both science and poetry motivates him to combine the two at every opportunity.

His work addresses issues of identity, love, and death. And stars. Because…