Geoffrey’s workshops have changed my creative life. It is a rare experience to encounter a teacher who possesses such a kind and gentle spirit, wit, humor, honesty, eloquence, and erudition without any pretension. And is also SO cool. (Disclaimer: If I sound like a stan it is because I am. But I have good reason to have become one over the last few years.)

Geoffrey has created such an amazing, supportive environment in which to experiment, explore and learn. I feel I can write something that “makes no sense,” be vulnerable, try new things, and share without fear. In working with him and the other poets I’ve met, I have begun to really trust in my intuition and my process. He is a wonderful listener and offers his keen insights so generously. I am always struck by the respectful attention he gives to every participant, regardless of their experience level.

He often becomes so absorbed in his love of poetry and in our engaging discussions that it’s difficult for him to bring the classes to a close, even when he needs to have dinner. By then, we have all forgotten about our own suppers, as we too are so swept up in the sessions.

Geoffrey has shown me what depth and feeling can be conveyed through clarity of language and images, how this can result in rich world-building. His inventive exercises—which might incorporate prompts and wildly ranging sources of linguistic and verbal inspiration or introduce constraints (a la Dogme 95)—result in surprisingly powerful work. They help me bypass the part in me that thinks it knows what a “good poem” “should” be. Sometimes, after a few immersive hours of allowing our poetic logic total freedom, he’ll ask us to write 20 completely unrelated lines. Often, the result far exceeds the sum of its parts—a poem that not only coheres but also feel completely true.

I’ve also learned a great deal about literature from Geoffrey. He’s not flexing when he recites lines of poems from memory, ranging from 8th-century Tang Dynasty works, or Chaucer or Ashbery or Senghor, finding the exact lines that pertain to our discussions. Hearing him share delightedly about one of his recent discoveries is as exciting to me as listening to an explorer relate his visions of an utterly new world.

One of the greatest gifts of Geoffrey’s workshops has been finding a creative community—a group of wonderful writers, some of whom have been attending for a long while, some of whom have just discovered him through social media. It is a special experience to get to know other poets’ voices over time, and to have one’s own work witnessed by writers who see and appreciate me. Their critiques and encouragement, along with Geoffrey’s, have been invaluable to me.