Whether at Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Valentine's Day, or a birthday, a poem makes a wonderful gift. With an audience of one person in mind, let's brainstorm and draft poems of celebration, love, or gratitude to give in this or any season to someone special in our life. In this session we'll talk about some of the more traditional poems of homage - odes, sonnets, ballads, and elegies - but also conjure ways to create our own new forms and approaches to communicating how much we care.

Joe McGonegal has taught writing to all ages for 20+ years and is currently a communications professional at MIT. As a journalist, Joe has written for WBUR, the Boston Globe, and The Patriot Ledger. His creative writing on grief and other topics has appeared in Two Hawks Quarterly, Saranac Review, Talking Writing, and McSweeneys Internet Tendency. Joe lives in Melrose with his wife, daughter, and shih-tzu.