Reading and Writing Poetry

3 credits · Undergraduate

What practical skills does one need in order to speak in poetry's enchanted chants? What historical background must one understand in order to engage in the subversive conversations of poetry now? This course attends to such fundamental prerequisites by combining an intense training in meter and rhythm, schemes and tropes, stanzaic forms and free verse, with a broad survey of poetry written in English. We will share and discuss our own writing in workshops all the while, exploring the ways in which politics imbues our words and works. We will immerse ourselves in the rich Bay Area poetry scene by attending poetry readings, and by hosting our own end-of-the-semester poetry festival. Students will write and revise a chapbook.