Julie Funderburk Takes the Mic
“Poetry is a way of singing”
In February, Charlotte Lit welcomes Julie Funderburk, poet and associate professor at Queens University of Charlotte, back to our faculty. Julie will be leading a workshop called “New Voices: A Generative Poetry Mini-lab,” running on five Tuesdays from February 3 to March 3 at the Charlotte Lit studio. Register here to secure your spot!
Julie is author of the poetry collection The Door That Always Opens (LSU Press) and the chapbook Thoughts to Fold into Birds (Unicorn Press). Her poems appear in The Southern Review, Blackbird, Ecotone, Pleiades, and Cave Wall. The recipient of fellowships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the North Carolina Arts Council, she is also on the faculty of Charlotte Lit’s Poetry Chapbook Lab. We asked Julie to answer a few questions so you could get to know her better.
If you hadn’t been a teacher and poet, what would you have been? Or, what’s the “alternate universe” Julie Funderburk doing right now?
If I could sing – really sing – well enough to perform, I’d be at the microphone right now! But I’d need the multiverse for that. I console myself because poetry is a way of singing. I love to read it aloud.
Tell us what your favorite writing space looks like.
A porch is everything to me. When I’m inside, my desk needs to face a window. I’m like a plant that wants to grow toward sunlight when I’m working.
What’s a piece of writing advice you got earlier in your career and never forgot?
Ellen Bryant Voigt once told me, “You learn it so you can forget it.” In context, she meant, yes, study craft, think it through so the understanding is in your brain. Then, when you’re writing, stay with your instincts. That second part is what I needed to hear.
If you could pick a superpower for yourself, what would it be?
Flying would be a fun release. I can’t even seem to dream I’m flying.
In three words, what is your teaching style?
Can I answer this like a real estate agent? Friendly, friendly, friendly! I also like to challenge in positive ways.
What are you looking forward to in teaching “New Voices: A Generative Poetry Mini-lab” for Charlotte Lit?
I’ll have fun looking through the lens of a different craft aspect each week. We’ll enjoy both focus and variety. Week one is image, inspiring our sample poems, prompts, and conversations.
Write Poetry with Julie
FIVE TUESDAYS, FEBRUARY 3–MARCH 3: “New Voices: A Generative Poetry Mini-lab,” with Julie Funderburk. 6:00–8:00 p.m., in person at Charlotte Lit. Info and registration
In this class, we will closely read poems together to explore important aspects of craft. We will start with image, poetry’s magic portal. We will also explore tension, sound, lyric & narrative structure, and line & sentence. The selected model poems, diverse in style, will give you new voices for your work and inspire our generative writing prompts. We will spend time in workshop-style discussions for some of our resulting drafts, with an emphasis on describing what we see on the page and raising questions related to the featured craft concept. The class will serve you for the future through its emphasis on the connection between reading and writing. All levels of experience and styles of poetry welcome.
Members save an extra $75 on this class! Log in as a member or join to receive the discount.
Thanks to generous donors, limited need-based scholarships are available for all classes: https://charlottelit.org/scholarships
