Innovative Poetic Forms

About this course:

When we approach writing poems, we should distinguish between “pattern” (repetition) and “form” (shape). In this workshop, we boldly seek new forms our poems can take, taking inspiration from contemporary poets who experiment with form and from writing prompts that encourage risky writing. Each week, you workshop poems and discuss ways to incorporate form more centrally in your poetry. You leave the course with all the tools you need to structure your work creatively and innovatively. A familiarity with traditional poetic forms (however slight) is especially helpful for this workshop.