English 290P - Spring, 2015

Seminar in Creative Writing of Poetry

Class Information

Instructor: Peterson, Katie
Time: T 12:10-3:00
Location: 308 Voorhies
Focus: Genre

Description

In this advanced course, students will write and revise original work, and critique the work of other participants. Those in the class will also read closely, and discuss, a (very) small amount of supplemental material each week (2 - 4 poems, or a short piece of prose), and, in the second half of the quarter, a novel. Assigned readings may include poems and prose by Franco Berardi, Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, Homer, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Denise Levertov, Carl Phillips, Donald Revell, Tomas Transtromer, and others and will take the form of weekly packets distributed in class and online.

The course has two purposes: the making of memorable poems by whatever means we might discover, and the creation a trustworthy and challenging community of judgment and support. The small size of the course will ensure that students will have substantial opportunities to have their work discussed, and our methods for discussion will be shaped by student interest and the needs of the class.

Grading

Grading will be based on class participation (contributions to class discussions of assigned reading, participation in workshop conversation and critique, and written commentary on others’ work) and on written work, which will include a portfolio of at least ten poems with a few revisions and a work in prose

Texts

Leaving the Atocha Station, Ben Lerner