Have y’all discovered Coursera? FREE college courses! Unless you’d like to earn an official certificate of completion, then the prices vary. I’ve participated in ModPo once — which was beyond terrific — and I’d love to do it again. Meanwhile, I have signed up for two other classes: Sharpened Visions (A Poetry Workshop), and The American South (It’s Stories, Music, and Art). I’m so excited.

When I’m studying poetry, I’m writing poetry. Why this has become my truth, I don’t know, but it’s a fact. Typically, after completing a course or a new book, I will produce poems (and a large slush pile) for about a month. Then pfft. Studying other genres doesn’t result in the same. When immersed in fiction or essay I gather ideas like a mad bee after pollen, but I don’t typically write profusely until weeks or months later.

Is that odd? Do y’all find that studying helps you produce?