English 891M - Sem-Form &Theory of Poetry

This course is focused on the works of contemporary poets who have revolutionized the epic poem to express socio-political dissent. Through poems, essays, interviews and performance, we'll examine the use of the lyric, fragment, rant and other speech as both formal innovation and interrogations of oppressive structures and systems. Some questions we'll consider are: How might we define and redefine the conventions of the traditional epic? What possible tensions exist between the narrative and the lyric? What tools might the poet use to write against practices of coloniality, imperialism and ecocide? How can these contemporary epics expand or disrupt our understanding of form, meaning and legibility? Poets and theorists who we'll read may include Etel Adnan, E.G. Asher, Kamau Brathwaite, Dionne Brand, Ken Chen, Mahmoud Darwish, Cathy Park Hong, Robin Coste Lewis, Alice Notley, M. NourbeSe Philip, Tommy Pico, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera and others. These readings will inform our poetic processes as we gradually write our own epic poems throughout the semester.

This class is open to English graduate students only.