Course The Artist

Designing the Poem

By Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta
1 Session
October 17, 2026
1PM to 3PM
2F Comuna bldg, 238 Pablo Ocampo Sr. Ext, Makati City, 1203, Metro Manila

Does a poem begin with what it wants to say, or with the shape it wants to take?

Designing the Poem explores the dynamic relationship between form and content in poetry, with particular attention to structural forms vs free verse. Rather than treating form as a container for an idea that already exists, the workshop considers how formal choices can actively shape what a poem says, means, and makes possible. Through discussion, close reading, and a guided writing exercise, participants will consider how a poem’s form can emerge alongside and sometimes before its content.

This class may be taken for PHP 1500.

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Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta

Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta is an award-winning Filipino poet, editor, and writer. Her work has received First Prize at the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and Best Book of Poetry in English at the Philippine National Book Awards. She is the author of the novel Assembling Alice, published by Penguin Southeast Asia. She has also represented the Philippines in major literary festivals around the world.
Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta

By the end of this session, you will...

Understand the relationship between form and content in poetry

Consider how formal decisions can also generate meaning

Develop a deeper understanding of form in free verse

Identify formal choices operating within poems they read and write

Experiment with allowing form to influence the development of content

Draft or revise a poem through a guided form-and-content exercise

This class is for…

  • Poets and writers interested in the relationship between form and meaning
  • Writers who want to become more intentional about formal choices
  • Beginners curious about what makes free verse a form
  • Anyone interested in how poems take shape on the page

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Designing the Poem

Does a poem begin with what it wants to say, or with the shape it wants to take?

Designing the Poem explores the dynamic relationship between form and content in poetry, with particular attention to structural forms vs free verse. Rather than treating form as a container for an idea that already exists, the workshop considers how formal choices can actively shape what a poem says, means, and makes possible. Through discussion, close reading, and a guided writing exercise, participants will consider how a poem’s form can emerge alongside and sometimes before its content.

This class may be taken for PHP 1500.

INQUIRE NEXT