Making Poetry Yours (Summer)

“Making Poetry Yours” is focused on helping you create poetry that matters to you. Each weekly lesson involves reading inspiring works by young, contemporary poets focusing on how they are reshaping the way we talk about—and think about—poetry. By the end of the course, we will have read and discussed the works of more than a dozen poets from across the spectrum of modern poetry, including Hanif Abdurraqib, Elizabeth Bishop, Todd Dillard, and EJ Koh. In examining how these poets play with form, structure, and sound, you will absorb deeper lessons of how these devices contribute to the craft of poetry itself.

During this course, you'll practice daily writing exercises inspired by the course readings with the goal of producing several poems to be workshopped and included in a final portfolio. The ultimate goal is for you to finish the course with two to three polished poems that feel uniquely yours.