There are no available registration dates at this time.

NOTE: This class will be held in a live, online format using the Zoom Platform.
Class meets Mon/Wed from 7-8:30pm ET for eight sessions + 1:1 time with instructor

What do we mean when we talk about form? How can received or traditional forms help us think inventively about movement on the page, visual and musical meaning, and literary innovation? Whether you write poetry or prose, thinking attentively about formal choices will help you develop and strengthen your approach to your work. In this course, we will take an immersive dip into the received poetic forms of the western canon, then broaden our understanding of poetic form through an introduction to contemporary and experimental forms. We will end with a consideration of the world itself as a source of form and use this as the basis for developing our own responsive forms. Participants will write several poems weekly. Individual conferences will give you a chance to talk at length about your work.

This class will offer you a supportive and curious environment in which to explore traditional and experimental poetic forms. We will read together, memorize poems, do generative exercises to practice writing in form, listen to recordings, and share drafts for peer and instructor feedback.

Dates: Mondays and Wednesdays, May 3-26 (8 meetings)
Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m. US Eastern


Course materials: “The Making of a Poem”, ed. Boland and Strand (Norton); other materials will be provided by the instructor as PDFs or online.

Enrollment: 8 students Max
Experience Level: Some experience writing and thinking about poetry would be useful, but beginners are welcome.

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Instructor: Éireann Lorsung

Éireann Lorsung is the author of the collections Her book, Music for Landing Planes By— named a New and Noteworthy collection by Poets & Writers—and The Century, all published by Milkweed Editions. She received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 2016. After completing an MFA at the University of Minnesota, Lorsung studied printmaking and drawing at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice and taught high school in rural France. While living in Belgium, she ran a micropress called MIEL Books and a residency space called Dickinson House for writers and artists. She holds a PhD from the University of Nottingham (UK). From 2017-2020 she was Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing - Nonfiction at the University of Maine, Farmington; she now teaches in the Baccalaureate Program at Bard College.

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