WRITING POETRY

This course is a seminar and workshop for aspiring poets. Students read poetry and essays in preparation for class, but the chief activity is original creative work. For the purposes of this course, lively and respectful participation in group discussion is an essential part of the work, and students are assessed partly on the basis of generosity of attention to other students' work. By the end of the semester, students produce a short collection of poems, with the benefit of regular critical attention from fellow students and from the professor. The course concludes with a public poetry reading event on campus in which all students are invited to participate.