First, read Andrea Cohen’s Circular, from Copper Nickel.

Then write a poem that mentions or uses a shape in some way (a circle, or a square, or a triangle, or if you’re daring, a dodecahedron….) The word could refer to a love triangle, or perhaps someone is being uncool, a real square. You could alternatively draw the shape on a blank page and try to write to fill that shape. How does the shape influence your choice of words?

This month is busy with many poetry events, most occurring online. Jersey City Writers has a free poetry festival coming up on Friday, Oct 16 through Sunday, Oct 18, with the FUTUROLOGY festival starting out on Friday night with a competition with cash prizes!

The Writer’s Hotel is happening, with a free online poetry reading on Friday, Oct 23 at 5:30pm EDT featuring Jenny Xie, Deborah Landau, Alexandra Oliver, Tim Seibles and Terrance Hayes.

And last but not least, the Dodge Poetry Festival 2020 is meeting online on Thursday, Oct 22 through Sunday, Nov 1.

For lists of other literary events, check out the Poets & Writers literary events calendar.