2-part Workshop
Book Review Workshop
Debby Bacharach
Write a book review
To write a great book review, you have to tell the reader about the context, themes, and craft. In the last few years, I’ve published almost 30 reviews in top journals using the techniques I’m going to share with you.
I’m going to focus the class on poetry books, but all these techniques are transferrable to other genres.
We will learn to code the poems as we go, find themes, analyze their craft, and collect the results in a cohesive, engaging review. You are welcome to practice all these techniques with a book of your choosing. But in addition to your individual work, all students will be provided with a free copy of Heidi Seaborn’s poetry chapbook Bitemarks. We will work together practicing all the reviewing skills and will finish the class with a publishable review of Bitemarks.
Debby Bacharach is the author of Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015).
Her poems and essays have been published in journals nationally and internationally, including Midwest Quarterly, Poetry Ireland Review, Vallum, Cimarron Review, New Letters and Poet Lore; been anthologized in A Fierce Brightness: Twenty-Five Years of Women's Poetry; and received a Pushcart prize honorable mention. She has been the featured reader at poetry readings in Boston, Oberlin, Seattle, South Bend, and Minneapolis. She is currently a poetry reader for The American Journal of Nursing, reviewer for Broadsided and Carolina Quarterly, and a staff writer for The Asheville Review.
Educated at Swarthmore College and the University of Minnesota, Debby lives in Seattle with her family. She is a college writing instructor, editor, and tutor and teaches poetry workshops for children. Find out more about her at DeborahBacharach.com.
