✨Spend an evening with poet & dream deliverer Mathias Svalina on Thurs. April 4th! Get your tickets here. ✨

Summer 2023 New Instructor Speed Dating | Lauren Davis

1Summer quarter at Hugo House is within berry-stained reach, and we want to introduce you to our brand-new instructors joining us this sizzling season! Welcome to The House Lauren Davis, who will teach Break Your Poem on July 23.

Lauren Davis is the author of The Milk of Dead Mothers (YesYes Books, forthcoming), and the poetry collections Home Beneath the Church (Fernwood Press) and When I Drowned (Aldrich Press). She holds an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars.



 Q&A with Lauren: 

How do you know when an idea has legs?

I know an idea has legs when I can’t stop thinking about it. I might (I will probably) struggle with the forward momentum for years, but the subject matter has its talons in me.


What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates. It’s an emotionally difficult book to read. One thing I admire about Oates is her inability to flinch.


Who was your first literary crush?

Lord, Sam Shepard, though really it was his face more than anything else.


What piece of advice changed the way you write?

I’m paraphrasing here, but Mark Wunderlich once said you don’t need to put it all in one book. There will be other books. What pressure that has taken off my manuscripts!


Where do you find inspiration?

Is it cliché to say everywhere? It’s true, though. There will never be a replacement for reading, of course. That is always my greatest teacher and guide.


How do you get unstuck?

In order to get unstuck, which happens more often than not, I force myself to do something different. If I am struggling with a poetry manuscript, I turn to short fiction. If I’m struggling with a story, I read a novel. If I can’t write a thing, I take a workshop.

Thank you, Lauren, for being in community with us! Check out her upcoming workshop Break Your Poem before registration opens next month.



Summer Registration Dates:

June 5: Scholarship Donation Day (Learn more.)
June 6: Member registration opens
June 13: General registration opens

Interested in teaching with Hugo House? The House puts out an open call for class submissions four times per year, approximately seven months before each quarter. Learn more here.