Writers and those who aspire to write dream of penning lines like the ones below. They come from a friend of the hard-living singer-songwriter Rusty Weir upon news of his death:

I suppose every human passion holds within its core

the germ of something lethal to its being and yet,

somehow, interwoven with the potential of rapture.

— From “Two Dogs Howling at the Moon” by Dave Parsons

Announcing a Workshop in Conroe for Writers

USTMAX Center launches Leisure Learning with its first continuing education course in Conroe on March 31. The 8-week Creative Writing Workshop will be taught by a living icon: 2011 Texas Poet Laureate Dave Parsons. The poet, author and former U.S. Marine has been teaching writing at the college level since 1992. He describes himself as a “missionary for poetry inside the classroom and out.”

Taught by an Experienced, Creative Force

To those who think “poet” and “Marine” don’t fit together, Parsons says, “Think about David in the Bible, and you have the first Marine poet.”

A bronze bust of the writer is featured in Conroe’s Founders Plaza, recognizing the man who founded the Writers in Performance program and the non-profit Montgomery County Literary Arts Council.

To those eyeing the upcoming USTMAX workshop in imaginative writing, he said, “Whether this is your first such class or if you’ve already published something, you will get what you seek. No matter what your level is, this curriculum is valuable.”

It’s Just the Beginning

USTMAX Center Senior Director Carla E. Alsandor, Ph.D, said, “Leisure Learning brings to life part of our vision for the USTMAX Center. In addition to our other educational options, we want to provide continuing education for adults who are more interested in learning something fun and meaningful than earning college credits. This inaugural class is a perfect way to begin. Dave Parsons is well-known and well-respected in our community. As a poet and professor, he brings a depth of knowledge and experience to USTMAX. We are looking forward to welcoming him and our new students on March 31st.”

Learn to Build a Writing Fire

For a glimpse into Parsons’ personal writing process, he shared, “I’ve written very few successful poems after saying ‘I’m going to write about such-and-such.’ No, it almost always comes from some little fire in my head that I have to build on.”

If building a writing fire is your dream, find abundant information about the class and registration here, and:

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die,

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

— From “Dreams” by Langston Hughes