Poet Laureate Kay Ryan (Library of Congress/Abby Brack photo)

(The following is a guest post by my colleague Donna Urschel.)

Did you ever wonder how the literary giants create their work?  Does it just pour out of them effortlessly?  Or is there some sort of magic trick?

On April 1, master poet Kay Ryan, the 16th Poet Laureate of the United States, will provide us with a peek into the creative process during a videoconference with community college students.

She will show how one of her poems, “The Other Shoe,” developed through 10 drafts.  She also will reveal her sources of inspiration, and will talk about what happens when you rewrite.

Ryan will show there are no magic tricks to masterful copy; it’s all in the rewriting.  No fooling!

The one-hour videoconference will be streamed live at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, April 1, and can be viewed here.

Ryan is holding the videoconference to celebrate Community College Poetry Day, which she designated as part of her Poet Laureate project, “Poetry for the Mind’s Joy.”  The “Mind’s Joy” project focuses on the poetry written by community college students.

More information on Community College Poetry Day can be found here, while more details on Ryan’s Poet Laureateship can be found here.