Learn classic poetics devices and twist them with poetic intention!
Music in poetry can be difficult; insist on it too much and the music can overtake meaning, too little and the words doing the least amount of work are highlighted, and yet, music can be one of the sweetest qualities of language. As Carl Philips writes, all poetry is patterned language and in that way, the aim of this class is to diversify the patterns at your disposal to write breathtaking poetry. For the first half of this workshop, participants will learn, draft, and critique poems in traditional forms and meters and in the second half, students will revise their poems away from their strict forms in order to write poems in ways only they can. By the end of this workshop, students will leave with at least three poems written in experimental forms ready for publication.
In-person class: This workshop will take place at The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda MD.
In this workshop you’ll learn:
- Poetic Forms and Meter
- Line breaks
- Experimental Poetics
Time Requirements
- 2 hours a week outside of class
Materials
- All materials will be provided.
Who should take this workshop?
- This class is designed for intermediate and advanced writers looking to push past composition and into innovation. Here we will be filling our poetic tool boxes to more viscerally express our feelings and perspectives.
If you need an accommodation for this workshop, please contact us at access@writer.org. We will attempt to fulfill all requests, but advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility services.
