Interdisciplinary Arts 0287 - "Worstword Ho!": Advanced Poetry Workshop

Samuel Beckett writes, in his short prose piece of the same title: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." This will be a course about "try[ing] again," about "fail[ing] better". I have said, and fully believe, that getting a draft down on paper is merely drafting, is merely procuring the materials to write the poem. The real work of writing comes in revision. It is there we make our intent clear or sometimes even known in the first place, and that discovery can completely change a poem. To that end, this workshop will be solely focused around revision, ideal for Div III or advanced Div II students. Students may read and consider work by Ellen Bryant Voigt, Stephen Dobyns, Louise Glück, James Longenbach, and Carl Phillips, among others. This course does require instructor permission, so, if interested, please contact me via email as soon as possible for course submission guidelines.

Independent Work Prerequisite: At least one prior creative writing workshop experience. In this course, students can generally expect to spend 6 to 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.