English CTMA. Poetry As Magic: Poetry Workshop with Tina Chang

Instructor: Tina Chang
Wednesday, 3:00-5:45pm | Location: TBD
Enrollment: Limited to 12 students

Magic: [maj-ik] (noun): power or influence exerted through art; any extraordinary or mystical influence, charm, power.

The name of this course pays tribute to a class that poet Jack Gilbert took with Jack Spicer. What summons us to a poem or a poet? Is it lyricism, a singular voice, an undeniable image, incantation, song, material so raw that we cannot turn away? Though one can certainly view poems as well-oiled machines to perfect and hone, we might also view poems as living energy that requires creation, motion, resuscitation, heartbeat. In these poems, we are immediately under the poem’s spell as we are asked to walk into their imagined dwellings. So how do we tap into this magic as writers? We will read writers from different schools, cultures and traditions, examining how they define themselves. This class teaches students to analyze and interpret written texts, and to craft clear writing that exerts a quiet, magical influence on the reader. Class work will be comprised of student writing and critique, formal experiments, and creative play. Writing is produced and discussed each week, followed by a revision portfolio and a final chapbook

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a a short letter of introduction and three poems.

Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, November 9)