Introducing Beautiful Losers Club
You're invited! | Free, online, close readings & literary conversations with friends
Iβm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you all like to read and write poetry. I do too. Iβm also an editor of poetry as well as prose, as some of you might already know, and just today we announced a close-reading session over on Strange Pilgrims which has filled up within minutes of opening:
In there, I talk a little bit more about the reasoning behind wanting to do a reading club as opposed to a workshop on writing or submitting or anything else. Of course, I do those also, and ONLY POEMS, our poetry magazine, regularly runs some kickass workshops. You can check them out here!
But as a lifelong reader, Iβve always felt the lack of spaces dedicated purely to reading and understanding a creative text, without any desire to bring our own writerly egos in to it (well, as much as that is possible). So, while the Strange Pilgrims Club will be for prose, Iβd like to try out a Beautiful Losers Club dedicated to close-reading poetry.
Just as I mention in the linked post above, this is indeed an experiment, and Iβd like to keep the space intentional and intimate. For this reason, enrollment will be first-come-first-serve and there will be a waitlist. I will share the recording later on, but if youβre interested in joining in live, please sign up here:
Our first Beautiful Losers Club meet will meet next week on Thursday, April 16th at 7pm EST, over Zoom. The poet Iβm choosing for this first session is Agha Shahid Ali (because heβs my most favorite poet ever & ever). Iβll send you three of his poems beforehand and youβll have some time to read them over and make any notes/annotations you like (though you donβt need to do that, annotations I meanβ¦the reading of course you ought to do!).
During the session we will:
Do quick introductions
Iβll share a brief presentation to assist our close read
Weβll read each poem in full and unpack different elements of what makes it work, what stands out, even what you might not necessarily enjoy or understand
Participate in open yet structured conversation
I want this to feel like the best kind of workshop classroom. The part Iβm most looking forward to is where it opens up into everyone talking about poetry, and about what literature is doing right now.
The session will run for about 60 minutes. If the conversation is thriving I wonβt end it prematurely, and anyone who needs to drop off at the 60-minute mark is free to do so (ought to go without saying that I wonβt hold you captive before this either, but I want to nurture a sustained space for conversation and analysis, so Iβd encourage you to stay for the full 60 minutes at least).
Alright, thatβs all from me. Not sure how many folks weβll get for this man, but Iβll most likely cap this at around 15 people, so it really is first-come-first-served. Please note, that I will keep a few spots reserved for ONLY POEMS Members!
May your life be full of poems,
Shannan





This sounds delightful! I hope it goes well, and becomes a regular reading club. I'd love to join in the future. :)
Sounds great, but times not great for uk so how do I sign up to get the recordings please?