MFA Poetry Workshop (496-0-20)

Topic

Poetry and the Muse of History

Instructors

Natasha Trethewey

Meeting Info

University Library 4722: Thurs 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

In his 1953 essay, "Stranger in the Village," James Baldwin wrote: "People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them." Similarly, William Faulkner declared, "the past isn't dead; it isn't even past." More recently, as James Longenbach put it, "in addition to being many other things, poems are statements about our place in the world, and like every other act of communication, they are historical." Thus, this workshop will focus on the writing of poems that engage and document various histories, allowing us to place the explorations of our own experience within a larger historical context. In so doing, we will explore the rifts between larger histories (the stuff of cultural or public memory) and smaller, often subjugated or lost histories, and personal histories. We will discuss the ways in which some poets have used history in their work, define some strategies for using information gathered from our research, and write a series of poems that engages those histories to which we have some connection or by which we feel compelled to explore.

Teaching Method

Workshop.

Evaluation Method

Craft/Process Essay and weekly poem assignments 30%; Ability to Critique/Class Participation 20%; Final Portfolio: 6-8 poems and final essay 50%.

Class Materials (Required)

TBA

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: REASON: Pre-registration is not allowed for this class. Please try again during regular registration.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required