Ever read a poem that grows more and more urgent, leaving you almost breathless at the end?

In the July Writers’ Roundtable, the group will learn and practice techniques for creating velocity in your own writing – whether poetry or prose.

“Step On It! Building Velocity in Poetry (And Stealing the Techniques for Prose)” will be co-taught by poets Tina Schumann and Jill McCabe Johnson on Saturday, July 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Orcas Library.

Schumann’s work has been a finalist in the National Poetry Series and the Terrain.org 2012 poetry contest. Her chapbook “As If” (Split Oak Press) was awarded the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize for 2010. She received a 2010 Pushcart nomination and holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Pacific Lutheran University.

McCabe Johnson is the author of the poetry collection “Diary of the One Swelling Sea” (MoonPath Press, 2013), and editor of the anthology “Becoming: What Makes a Woman” (University of Nebraska Gender Programs).

She is the founder and director of Artsmith, a nonprofit organization to support the arts.