Creative Writing: Poetry
Class Information
Instructor: Peterson, Katie
Time: R 12:10-3:00
Location: 120 Voorhies
Description
In this advanced course, students will write and revise original work, and critique the work of other participants. We will pursue the best poems we can by treating our work to deep attention, reading aloud, and talking about the work of other poets.
We will read together five collections of poetry published in the last year. I am interested in how poems generate intimacy, and bring people closer together. Diverse in aesthetics, these collections share an intensity generated by intimacy and an imagination of human closeness.
The course has two objectives: the making of memorable poems by whatever means we might discover, and the creation a trustworthy and challenging community of judgment, support, and intellectual investigation. 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.
This class is offered through the MFA in Creative Writing and priority will be given to MFA students completing their degree requirements. Other students are welcome to apply - send me a letter of interest and five poems. I'll generate a ranked list after the registration process is complete.
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, additionally, a short work in prose.
Texts
Selected Poems, Robert Desnos
The Country Between Us, Carolyn Forche
Hydra Medusa, Brandon Shimoda
Bone, Yrsa Daley Ward
Selected Poems, Gerard Manley Hopkins