Train Your Titles

Hook Readers Before the First Line

Before a reader encounters your first line, they’ve already begun reading your poem.

A great title is the first promise you make to your reader. It can create tension, establish context, deepen meaning, and shape expectation in just a few words. In this two-hour generative workshop, we’ll explore how titles and epigraphs can do some of a poem’s most important work—carrying narrative weight, sharpening arguments, creating surprise, and opening new possibilities for commentary and compression.

We’ll read and discuss poems by Ruth Awad, Lucille Clifton, Danez Smith, and more, then apply what we learn through guided writing exercises.

In this workshop, you’ll:

• Write titles readers return to after the poem is over
• Build context and tension before the first stanza
• Use metaphorical titles as a vehicle for commentary and meaning
• Rethink the role of titles and epigraphs in your work
• Apply a five-step process for generating stronger titles quickly and effectively

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What Past Participants Said About this Workshop

“I loved, love, loved your workshop. I went wild writing fun-titled poems after it ended. Thank you.” —Jennifer H

“I was in your titles class yesterday, and it was incredible. I’m feeling inspired to go back and re-title some of my older pieces:).” —Sarah Q

“I learned so much and cannot wait to incorporate it into my writing. I have so many ideas, I started thinking about my old titles and getting better ideas for those pieces.” —Charlotte S.