The main focus of the class will be the workshop members' poetry, but I will distribute and discuss examples of strategies used by poets who exemplify as well as defy tradition.  We will also look at craft essays, and a few examples of good poems that went “wrong.”  (Handouts provided).  This course will address issues of syntax, sound, rhythm and line breaks, with the intention of helping each poem fulfill its ambition. 

I would also like each student to bring a poem by a poet he/she admires, a poem that “makes you want to do what it does.” 

“Oh, for Christ's sake, one doesn't study poets!  You read them, and think, That's marvelous, how is it done?  Could I do it? and that's how you learn.” -- Philip Larkin

We will begin each class with a brief discussion of that piece.

Since art involves risk-taking, I hope that the participants will push their work in new directions as a result of spending the week in this supportive and rigorous community. 

Please bring 10 copies of two or three poems to the Sunday night orientation session, as well as the poem by another poet as described above.  Revisions and new work will be welcomed during the week.