The Writer's Workshop @ Authors Publish

In American poetry during the last decade, there have been noteworthy instances when a particular form gained a heightened visibility because it seemed to manifest the aesthetic and social zeitgeists of the moment. Think of erasures. Or the sonnet. Or the Golden Shovel.

This is recently true of the prose poem, with celebrated exemplars like Victoria Chang’s Obit and Richard Siken’s I Do Know Some Things.

The form has a rich history, encompassing brilliant canonical works like Charles Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee.

In the present, the form has taken on renewed freshness and urgency, serving as a site for poetry’s ongoing confrontations with silence, loss, wonder, history, memory, desire, joy.

In this three-hour class, we’ll look at some powerful prose poems by a thrilling variety of writers: Anne Carson, Oliver de la Paz, Gertrude Stein, Diana Khoi Nguyen, and others.

We will, of course, also discuss the question of what makes a prose poem a poem at all, when it eschews the line, which is usually thought of as a poem’s defining characteristic. Especially if you’ve never tried using the prose poem form before, this class will hopefully encourage you to do so.

Ultimately, this focused look at the form’s possibilities will lead to new ways of deepening and complicating your poems, including those that utilize lineation.

The workshop will include a mix of craft instruction, and class discussion. Keep in mind, there will be a break included, so you can have of time to eat a snack, stretch, etc.

Please note, this is a unique opportunity to attend a live workshop with Rick Barot. Space is limited.

For those interested in participating, you’re encouraged to enroll right away.