The purpose of this class is to not only create serious work in a workshop environment, but we will also explore the various components that will allow you to discover and modify your own poetic skills. We will spend a lot of time reading and analyzing several influential and established poets to help you develop the critical skills that will help you learn poetic techniques, forms, and terminology. Much of your writing will also take shape through writing exercises in which you will work with formal, cultural, and other poetic approaches while emphasizing revision.

There will also be performance elements in this class, including the memorization of one poem and a class presentation on a famous poet. You will walk away from this class with a working knowledge of poetry and workshop through reading, writing, and discussion. You will also create a polished and revised portfolio, featuring at least nine of your own poems and your own writings about poetry.

Texts will include:

Poetry: A Pocket Anthology. Edited by R.S. Gwynn ISBN 0-321-24496-6

Tell Me by Kim Addonizio ISBN 1-880238-91-8

The Triggering Town by Richard Hugo ISBN 0-393-30933-9

Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa ISBN 0-8195-1211-7