Grounding in the basics of poetic form, from metered verse to free verse. Students study models of a different formal approach every week and practice and workshop their own poems in the form. Each workshop focuses on a specific formal practice area, such as blank verse or the sonnet; some workshops are sequenced into ten-week blocks meant to allow for sustained work in related practice areas. Workshops in blank verse and the sonnet, for example, can be taken individually or as one extended course exploring meter and rhyme. No prior experience writing or reading poems necessary. Meant for beginning writers and readers of poetry, as well as more experienced poets wishing to shore up aspects of their formal practice.
Fall 2019
September 25–October 23
The Poetry of Complaint
Julie Hart / Boerum Hill
September 26–October 24
The Mythic Mundane: Observational Writing Practice
Robert Balun / Bushwick
October 5–November 8
In Praise Of: The Ode
Jay Deshpande / online
October 16–November 19
Poetry and Memoir: Whose Story Am I Telling?
JP Howard / online
October 27—November 24
Fast Break: Capturing the Motion of the Mind
Jason Koo / Williamsburg
