All Student Success Letters
Bonnie Jill Emanuel
Dear Gotham,
Summertime, ten years ago, I trained into the city from upstate New York for my Poetry I class with Kate Angus at Gotham Writers Workshop. Angus is like a walking anthology of everything anyone ever wanted to know about poets, poetry, and how to make a poem.
During the fascinating course of the workshop my world grew. I moved from that class to a Poetry II class led by Matthew Lippman. That was it for me. I was hooked. Lippman and his generosity, enthusiasm, and brilliance helped me discover my way to publication.
Poetry became a way for me to understand my place among all things. When I write a poem, I access an interior. That, in and of itself, adds purpose and meaning to my life and everything else I do. It buoys me, grounds me, and breaks me wide open—all at once.
After Gotham, I moved to more local workshops, found even more writing community, and eventually earned a Creative Writing MFA. My first poetry collection, Glitter City, was released earlier this year.
Thank you, Gotham Writers Workshop. Your classes are exceptional, your instructors changed my life.
Bonnie Jill Emanuel
