The Casual Union of Working Poets
an alumni club & affinity group
for Poetry Forge Poets & Secret Poets
membership runs from February 7 until December 10, 2025
Together, With Our People
The Casual Union was formed so that those who wished to maintain a connection to a poetic community, after finding a creative home within one of Holly's offerings, may do so. All are welcome here. It is a warm, safe, and inclusive space where we write, discuss, revise, share work in progress, and support each other in the process of making our way as poets in the world. In 2025, we will also do a group reading project, which is optional but promises to be fun and illuminating. From February until the end of the year, we will read one book of poetry each month, and discuss the form of the book, how collections are made, and the craft of individual poems. Our workshops will be guided by what we find in our readings. Members are invited to adopt individual books, and share what they've found most instructive and inspiring after giving their chosen book a close reading. Our list was co-created by current members and may be found below. Members are strongly encouraged to attend our live gatherings, however the workshops, but not Open Studio, will be recorded for the CUWP library. If you have taken at least one workshop, retreat, or course with Holly, you are invited to join us for a year of community and writing, conversation, and encouragement.
Enrollment is now open for new members.
Join the Union
Membership Benefits
~11 months of twice monthly workshops in an intimate and interactive community, hosted by Holly Wren Spaulding
~Intelligent and soulful conversations with fellow writers
~Discounted access to advising sessions with Holly, for tutoring, editorial support, or other creative counsel. (*CUWP member rate is 20% off)
~Access to the entire CUWP workshop library, which contains dozens of recorded sessions with guided exercises, craft lectures, and prompts going back to 2023
Dates & Details
Our CUWP Workshop happens live on Zoom, First Fridays at Noon Eastern Time. Discuss a book, learn about the craft of poetry, write a poem.
Open Studio happens live on Zoom, Third Thursdays at 3 PM Eastern Time. Offers structure, accountability, and a space in which to make progress and read from your personal writing projects.
Annual Membership in the Casual Union: $640*
*Prior year members receive a discount when they renew (contact Holly for details)
Register with the C.U.W.P. Payment Plan Option
I feel so darned lucky to have found Poetry Forge. CUWP is another gem, so sustaining. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
—B.H., Union Member
A Note from Holly
Since 2019 I’ve hosted a circle of faithful writers in what has become the Casual Union of Working Poets. We meet monthly for workshops on Zoom, and over time, poems have been written, friendships and independent writing groups have formed, bodies of new work have been written and revised, and even published. Secret poets have come out of the closet. Folks have founded steady writing practices anchored in our twice-monthly gatherings, and the sense of solidarity that exists in this uniquely warm community setting.
Because everyone present has participated in Poetry Forge workshops at one time or another, we share a common ethos, and there’s a feeling of familiarity and ease that catalyzes breakthroughs, connections, and valuable conversations. For members, this cadence and sense of belonging can be life-changing, in part because it is designed to foster a sustainable and sustaining creative practice. But there is something else happening after all these years, too: the realization that we are poets, and we enjoy being among our kind, and this adds an essential richness to our lives. As the group's facilitator, I am guided by the following intentions:
~To tend your human need for belonging
~To offer a place where your creativity is honored and encouraged
~To begin conversations that expand your sense of what's possible
~To help you feel accompanied on your poet's path
Whether you're a secret poet, publishing poet, exhausted academic, stay at home parent with an hour to yourself just twice a month, or a happy student who has appreciated the ease and structure of Poetry Forge workshops, I invite you to join our Casual Union of Working Poets. This is a place for you.
- Holly Wren Spaulding
Founder, Poetry Forge
CUWP 2025 Dates
First Fridays: Workshop at Noon (*except where noted)
Third Thursdays: Open Studio at 3 pm (*except where noted)
February 7 & 20
March 7 & 20
April 4 & 17
May 2 & 15*
June 6 & 19
July 4 & 17
August 1 & 21
September 5 & 18
October 3 & TBD
November 7 & 20
December 5 & 11*
* Note that we meet on the second Thursday in May and December
What else is possible when we feel welcomed, ensconced, and valued within a community of kind-hearted, creative peers?
2025 Reading Project Book List:
February: Louise Gluck, Winter Recipes for the Collective, 2021
March: Kimiko Hahn, Foreign Bodies, 2022
April: Anne Carson, Wrong Norma, 2024
May: Hannah Lavery, Unwritten Woman, 2024
June: Ross Gay, Be Holding, 2020
July: Diane Seuss, Modern Poetry, 2024
August: Victoria Chang, With My Back to the World
September: Mary Ruefle, The Book, 2023 + Bonus reading: On Imagination, a chapbook
October: Ada Limon, The Hurting Kind, 2022
November: Wild Card
December: Revision & Member Readings
For your convenience, this list is also available in the Poetry Forge Bookshop storefront.
