BJ Ward, whose works of poetry have received numerous awards and recognitions locally and nationally, will lead a special Poetry Writing Workshop at Warren Community College’s Phillipsburg Education Center campus this fall. 

The course, which is for college credit, will run every Monday starting on Sept. 12 and continue through Dec. 19, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Those taking the course do not have to be full-time students at the College. The Phillipsburg Education Center is located at 445 Marshall Street, by Route 22. 

Ward, a longtime professor at the College, is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Jackleg Opera: Collected Poems 1990-2013 (North Atlantic Books), which received the Paterson Award for Literary Excellence. His poems have appeared in Poetry, American Poetry Review, TriQuarterly, The New York Times, and The Sun, among others, and have been featured on NPR’s “The Writer’s Almanac,” NJTV’s “State of the Arts,” and the website Poetry Daily. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and two Distinguished Artist Fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He has recently been a guest speaker at the 2022 Moravian University Writers’ Conference, the 2021 Frost Place Conference on Poetry and Teaching, the 2020 DeSales University MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing conference, and has been a featured reader at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival three times.  One of his poems (“For the Children of the World Trade Center Victims”) has been cast in bronze and acquired as part of the permanent collection at Grounds for Sculpture. 

“I am excited to teach this once-per-week workshop in Phillipsburg where we are able to expand our reach to even more aspiring writers,” said Ward. “We have run this workshop with great success many times over the last 20 years, but it has always been held in Washington. Running it on our Phillipsburg campus opens up this opportunity for folks who can’t make it to the Washington campus, for whatever reason. My hope is that poets who are serious about improving and generating new work will sign up for this course, which will be encouraging and supportive while holding writers to a high standard.”

This workshop is suitable for both new and experienced poets of all ages. Those 60 years of age and older may audit the course if space permits. Senior citizens can audit this course tuition-free but must pay all college fees and learning material costs. The senior citizen waiver does not apply to repeated courses.They should call on September 9^th to confirm if seats are available.  

“My goal is for each writer, by early December, to have multiple poems that are ready (or near ready) for publication,” Ward stated. 

For more information about this course – and BJ Ward – go to http://www.warren.edu/creative-writing/ or http://www.warren.edu/bj-ward/. New students should first complete an online admissions application before registering for this workshop at https://mywarren.warren.edu/ICS/Admissions/.  You can also phone 908-835-2300 for registration details during regular business hours Monday through Thursday.