| English 750: Advanced Poetry
Workshop |
| Tuesdays 4:30-7:10, Robinson
A-447 (English Departmet conference room) |
| An
intensive workshop designed for students in the mid to later stages of
the MFA
degree in poetry. Though close-reading will occupy some of our class
time, we
will emphasize assessment of each poet's direction and development. We
will
emphasize constructive attention and service to each other’s work,
including a
willingness to engage in analysis and discussion of a variety of poetic
values
and strategies. In addition to your own poems, written requirements
will
include peer manuscript critique and analysis of the sequence and
organization
of published books of poems. Syllabus |
| English 497:002: Special
Topics in Writing: Book Beasts |
| Mondays 4:30-7:10, The
Engineering Building, Room 1108 |
|
This workshop explores the
visual/verbal boundary, as well as other edges of what constitutes the
poetic. You will create visual and concrete poetry, emblems, altered
books, constrained texts, simple hand-made books, and three-dimensional
poem objects. You may also create poetic installations or events. Some
projects can only be completed as poems; others can be completed as
poems or as short prose. Some will require collaboration with
classmates. Class time will include workshop critique, writing
exercises, and discussions of the reading. A
few pages of the course wiki are public. https://bookbeasts.pbworks.com/FrontPage
|
| English 619: Special Topics
in Writing: Book Beasts |
| 2 sections |
|
This workshop explores the
visual/verbal boundary, as well as other edges of what constitutes the
poetic. You will create visual and concrete poetry, emblems, altered
books, constrained texts, simple hand-made books, and three-dimensional
poem objects. You may also create poetic installations or events. Some
projects can only be completed as poems; others can be completed as
poems or as short prose. Some will require collaboration with
classmates. Class time will include workshop critique, writing
exercises, and discussions of the reading, including the history and
theory of what we are practicing. The course culiminates in a reading
& show in conjunction with Book Arts students. A few pages of the
course wiki are public. https://bookbeasts.pbworks.com/FrontPage
|
| English 564:001 Form of
Poetry |
| An
intensive introduction to the workings of Form, as well as the history
of Forms. A required course for first-year students in the MFA Poetry
program. Others may apply to the instructor for permission to enroll.
Syllabus not on line. |
| English 608: Craft Seminar:
Moore & Niedecker |
| We will read and write our way
through these two great poets of the 20th c, one a Modernist, one an
Objectivist, who offer two distinct and distinctly American voices.
Split them by their urban/rural identities, their insider/outsider
status, their complex or spare syntax. Or pair them by their Dickinson
influence; their deep interest in craft and in gender; their invention
of new stanza forms; their quick minds and lovely wit; their poems of
nature, and of travel; their enjoyment of research to feed their poems.
Moore offers a palette of syllabics, rhyme, free verse, catalog,
collage, cubism, ekphrasis, a curious relationship to the power she
wielded as an influential editor, and an over-determined relationship
to gender that led one critic to describe her as a “female female
impersonator.” Niedecker counters with a short-line, ear-sensitive free
verse studded with rhyme, collage, a touch of surrealism, class
consciousness, a unique crossbreeding of folk roots and avant-garde
sophistication, an especially pure dose of what we now call ecopoetics,
and acute consciousness of her own marginal position as a poor female
rural writer. Syllabus not on line. Designed for MFA poetry
students. |
| English 617:001 Poetry
Workshop |
| Thursdays 4:30-7:10 |
| A general poetry workshop designed for candidates for the MFA in poetry. Others working at a comparable level may apply for admission by submitting 8-10 poems to the instructor. Syllabus not on line. |
| English 619:001 Special
Topics in Writing: Poetic Sequence & Collage |
| Wednesdays 7:20-10:00 |
| A specialized
workshop designed for students in the poetry MFA program. Four weeks of
intensive
reading of contemporary poetic
sequences, followed by ten weeks of workshop; discussion of method
& theory; writing exercises derived from the reading. Syllabus is
on a course wiki, parts of which will become public after completion of
the course. Reading includes work by Thomas A. Clark, Alec Finlay,
Adrian Lurssen, Semezdin Mehmodinovic, Harryette Mullen, Mark Nowak,
Tom Pow, Kristin Prevallet, Spencer Reece, Gary Snyder, Arthur Sze,
& Rosemarie Waldrop. |
| English 699: Visiting
Writers Seminar (Poetry) |
| Visiting poets will be
Kristin Prevallet (April 9) & Kevin Prufer (March 2). |
| See Visiting Poets Wiki for
info on the poets + syllabus See Graduate Writing Program web page for dates, times, & places. |
| Spring
2008:
English 390:001 : Recent American
Poetry |
| Tuesday
&
Thursday
1:30-2:45 Syllabus |
|
Our reading this semester
will feature individual volumes of poetry published in the last ten
years, with
an emphasis on innovative forms and on poets whose work brings their
personal
experience into the context of social, political, and historical
issues. We
will also look at points of connection between these books and poetry
written
in more traditional forms. Requirements include weekly written responses (some creative, some analytical) as well as active participation in discussion, several class presentations, and attendance at poetry readings. |
| Spring
2008:
English 619:003
/ 497:001 Collage, Collaboration, & Other Bookish Beasts |
| Thursday
4:30-7:10
Syllabus |
This workshop will give you practice in the techniques of textual collage and cut-up, visual and concrete poetry, emblems, altered books, abecedarian and other “constrained” forms, and the production of simple hand-made books. You will write poems and very short stories, create small books and three-dimensional poem objects. Some projects can only be completed as poems; others can be completed as poems or as short fiction or nonfiction. Some will require collaboration with classmates. Class time will include workshop critique, collaboration, writing exercises, and talking about the history and theory of what we are practicing. |
| Fall
2007:
English 617:001
: Poetry Workshop |
| Wedsdays
4:30-7:10
|
A general poetry workshop designed for candidates for the MFA in poetry. Others working at a comparable level may apply for admission by submitting 8-10 poems to the instructor. Syllabus not on line. |
| Spring
2007:
English 660:001
: 20th C American Literature Feminist Avant-Garde Poetry |
| Tuesdays
4:30-7:10
/
Syllabus
|
This course provides an introduction to five 20th/21st century poets (Gertrude Stein, Mina Loy, Sonia Sanchez, Susan Howe, and Harryette Mullen) as part of an inquiry into the meaning and nature of “feminist,” “avant-garde,” and “feminist avant-garde.” We will follow a path laid down by Elisabeth Frost’s The Feminist Avant-Garde in American Poetry, which examines the avant-garde as a necessary response to historical and aesthetic circumstances, including male avant-garde traditions. |
| Spring
2007:
English 464:001
Advanced Poetry Workshop |
| Tuesdays
&
Thursdays
1:30-2:45
/ Syllabus
|
A workshop for those who have proven they can read and write poems, survive a poetry workshop, and come back for more. We will read, write, and discuss a variety of poems and poetic forms, writing processes, and modes of revision. |
| Fall
2006:
English 497:002
Special Topics in Writing: Collage, Collaboration, & Bookish Beasts |
| Thursdays
4:30-7:10
/
Syllabus
|
A workshop in the techniques of textual collage, cut-up, visual and concrete poetry, altered books, abecedarian & other "constrained" writing, and the production of simple hand-made books and book objects. Some projects can be completed only as poems; others can be completed as poems or as short fiction or non-fiction. Some will require collaboration with classmates. Instructions for how to apply to the class are on the main syllabus page. |
| Fall
2006:
English 750:001:
Advanced Poetry Workshop |
| Tuesdays
7:20-10:00
/ Syllabus
|
| An
intensive workshop designed for students in the mid to later stages of
the MFA
degree in poetry. Though close-reading will occupy some of our class
time, we
will emphasize assessment of each poet's direction and development. We
will
emphasize constructive attention and service to each other’s work,
including a
willingness to engage in analysis and discussion of a variety of poetic
values
and strategies. In addition to your own poems, written requirements
will
include peer manuscript critique and analysis of the sequence and
organization
of published books of poems. |
| Spring
2006:
English 619:002:
Special Topics in Writing: Sequence & Collage |
| Tuesdays
4:30-7:10
/
DK 2054 / Syllabus |
A specialized workshop designed for students in the poetry MFA program. Four weeks of intensive reading of (mostly) contemporary poetic sequences, followed by nine weeks of workshop; discussion of method & theory; writing exercises derived from the reading. |
| Spring 2006:
English 390:001
Recent American Poetry |
| Thursdays
7:20-10:00
/ Ent 279 / Syllabus |
Our reading this semester will feature individual volumes of poetry published in the last fifteen years (most in the last five) by poets from twenty-two to eighty years old (+ one posthumous). Our secondary focus will be influence and affiliation, so we’ll read these poets in a context of work by their contemporaries and predecessors. Assignments will be designed to develop your close-reading skills and your ability to step back from a close engagement with the page to regard a poem in its larger literary, social, and historical settings. Requirements include weekly written responses, active participation in discussion, short presentations, attendance at poetry readings. |
| Spring 2006:
English 798
(Directed Reading) Traditional Ballads |
| Ballads home page |
Independent study in the traditional ballad, as genre and as cultural practice. Co-taught with Dr. Margaret Yocom (Folklore). May be taken for 1-3 credits. The ballads page leads to a course page and to an extensive bibliography. A discography is under construction. |
| Spring
2006:
English 699:002:
Workshop in English: Lannan Fellows |
|
For those attending readings & seminars in Lannan Foundation series at the Folger Shakespeare Library. No syllabus. E-mail for information. |
| Fall
2005:
English 685:002:
Special Topics: Movements & Genres: 20th c. War Poetry |
| Thursdays
4:30-7:10
/
DK 2054 / Syllabus |
An advanced introduction to the genre(s) and a survey of English, Scottish & American poetry of World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. |
| Fall 2005: English 617:001: Poetry Writing Workshop |
| Tuesdays
4:30-7:10
/ Robinson A279 |
A general poetry workshop designed for candidates for the MFA in poetry. Open to others working at a comparable level. Syllabus not on line. |