English 328 - The Poetics of Failure

This poetry workshop proceeds from the idea that all creative work begins in “failure.” What happens when poets transform their relationship to that idea? We will explore the poem not as a product, but rather as a process—a documentation of effort, an unfinished attempt, a brief witness of the body and an ongoing record of the mind. Written projects will center on drafts, revisions, collaborations and experiments, utilizing techniques such as fragmentation, research, erasure, collage, ekphrasis, somatic exercises and other forms of radical revision. We will read poets and critics who theorize and prioritize process, and we will engage with a series of visiting artists who place “failure” at the heart of their creative practice in various ways. We will reimagine revision as creation and rethink “failure” and “imperfection” in relation to illness and disability literature, as an anti-capitalist approach, and as a form of cultural resistance. Students will experiment with a variety of process-focused writing exercises throughout the semester and design a final project of their choice. Readings may include Bhanu Kapil, Emily Dickinson, M. NourbeSe Philip, Krista Franklin, Sappho, Lyn Hejinian, Douglas Kearney, Carl Philips, Lucy Ives, Nicole Sealey and Sara Jane Bailes. 

Limited to 12 students. Spring semester. Lecturer Kapur.

How to handle overenrollment: If the course is over-enrolled, enrollment will be by permission of the instructor with priority given to students who have taken at least one CW course and/or who plan to write a thesis.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Creative writing, workshops, literary analysis, close reading, independent research, group work, archival research, oral presentations.