This month Kitty Jospé leads a session on:

Know Your Canon[1]: Learn the Rules, Break the Rules, Make New Rules

To be a good poet, it is important not only to be a good reader but a good “applier” of the “experiments” of past centuries and cultures.  In this workshop, we will concentrate on one or two examples of a “typical” villanelle,  modern variations, and try our hand transforming a Free Verse poem into form and vice-versa.  You will discover for yourself how liberating a form can be, rather like exploring variations on a theme in music, where new harmonies rise unexpectedly.

[1] Canon: A list of authors or works considered to be central to the identity of a given literary tradition or culture. This secular use of the word is derived from its original meaning as a listing of all authorized books in the Bible. William Shakespeare, John Milton, and William Blake are frequently found on lists of canonical literature in English

After the main program we’ll have our usual workshop from 3:00 to 4:00 Bring 8 copies of a poem you are working on for our group workshops.

We’ll meet in the Golisano Academic Gateway. For a campus map click here.

Kitty Jospé