Never Say Love in a Poem

KNOXVILLE, TN — The Knoxville Writers Guild invites the public to an evening workshop with celebrated poet and editor Denton Loving on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 7:00 PM at Addison’s Bookstore, 126 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. The event is free and open to all.

Loving will lead participants through “Waking the Reader,” an exploration of how to write love poems that truly resonate. There are infinite ways to write a love poem, and yet the word “love” is so often overused in poetry that it becomes invisible or even cliché. In this workshop, attendees will discover how to cut through tired language and focus on the unique, specific words shared between writer and beloved — the kind of language that stops a reader cold.

Denton Loving is the author of three poetry collections: Feller, Crimes Against Birds, and Tamp, which was a finalist for the Weatherford Award and received…