The course will provide an introduction to poetry writing as a discipline and craft by encouraging students to practice writing in a variety of modes. Students’ own poems, from both open and directed writing assignments, will become the main text for this workshop, in addition to some models provided by the instructor for discussion of prosody and technique. The workshop critiques will focus on strategies for revising early drafts, and a chapbook of finished poems will be due from each student at the end of the semester. No application process.
This version of Writing Workshop: Poetry emphasizes analytical reading of poetry as a powerful stimulant to creative production. The good writer is, first of all, a good reader whose writing responds to the contemporary literary landscape and to the inheritance of literary history.
units
Introduction to reading and writing poetry: What can a poem do?
Prose poetry and autotheory
Ekphrasis and lyric
Grief and belonging
- Victoria Chang, Tree of Knowledge (2026)
- Edgar Garcia, Cantares (2026)
- Peter Gizzi, Fierce Elegy (2023)
- Ben Lerner, The Lights (2023)
- Maggie Nelson, Bluets (2009)
- Solmaz Sharif, Customs (2022)
- Prageeta Sharma, Onement Won (2025)
- Elizabeth Willis [pictured], Liontaming in America (2024)
[pictured: Elizabeth Willis]
Eric Weiskott 