The Craft of Poetry: A Primer

6/14/2016—8/9/2016 (no class Tuesday 5^th July) | Tuesday | 6-8 p.m.

What skills do we need to acquire if we are to express, in words, something of our marvelous complexity?  This class is an introduction to the craft of poetry: it is designed for those with little or no experience.  We will experiment with the line, the stanza, devices of sound, metaphor and simile, meter, syllabics, Anglo-Saxon verse and poetic forms; we will explore the relationship between poetic content and form and look at the difficult, and critical, process of revision.  The emphasis of this class is on readings, in-class discussions, and the workshopping of our own poems.  The word “workshop” implies saws, noise, grease, and dust; implies that the work itself, the making, is the pleasure.  Please obtain a copy of the The Poet’s Companion by Dorianne Laux and Kim Addonizio.