From W H Auden’s ‘Time Will Say Nothing But I Told You So’, to Dylan Thomas’ ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’, and from Theodore Roethke’s ‘My Papa’s Waltz’, to Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘One Art’, the villanelle has seized the imagination of poets. How did a French troubadour repeating form manage to become a poetry phenomenon in English? How can we explore and write our own villanelles? This three-session Studio is geared both for the newcomer to this verse form as well as to experienced practitioners of the art. Before the first class you will receive instructions and examples. During each class we will discuss both your poems and the examples for the following week. We’ll focus on how to handle the repetitive nature of this form, how to select subjects appropriate for the form, and how to adjust the repetition of the villanelle for greater freedom. The motto for the Villanelle Studio is: In the attempt is the success!