Writing Alongside Whitman & Ginsberg [Deborah Woodard]

Time: - - - PT
Capacity: seat
1 seat left!
Member Price: $342.00
General Price: $380.00

This class is devoted to writing alongside two masters of the American vernacular. We’ll start with Walt Whitman, exploring his long line, his musical phrasing, and his expansive extensions of the poetic “I.” Then, casting all caution to the winds, we’ll move to Whitman’s heir apparent, another celebrant of cosmic selfhood, Allen Ginsberg. Goodies along the way include Whitman’s handwritten corrections in his Blue Book, Delius’ musical adaptation of “Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking,” Ginsberg’s recordings of “Howl” and “Kaddish,” in particular, and juicy Beat movement history in general. There will also be weekly writing prompts.

Required texts will be available at the Elliott Bay Book Company:

Ginsberg, Allen. Selected Poems, 1947-1995 (Harper Collins 2001).

Whitman, Walt. Introduction by Peter Davison and Billy Collins. Leaves of Grass (Signet

Classic 2013), or any version of the 1892, Deathbed Edition.

Most classes are offered at a general and member tuition rates based on instruction hours, with Hugo House members receiving a 10% discount on classes fewer than six sessions.

Early bird discounts are available during the first two weeks of registration and apply to both general and member tuition rates.

To help provide financial accessibility to our class offerings, some classes each quarter are offered with a sliding-scale tuition model, allowing students to pay what they can for the class. For these classes, tuition increments starting at $5 and going up to 125% of the standard pricing will be listed on the page.

Hugo House will only process refund requests that are submitted 5 business days or more before the class start date. To request a refund, log in to your account, go to “My Account,” select the “Orders” tab on the left-hand side, click the appropriate order, and request a refund for your specific class. Administrative fees apply. Please see our full refund policy here.

Class sessions may be recorded if a session falls on a holiday, or if a student has access needs. Class recordings are not guaranteed.

We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic or any other oppressive behaviors, regardless of who commits them. Please check out our full community guidelines by clicking here. If an instance of community guidelines are violated and not resolved within the classroom, students may let us know by filling out the student incident report.

Classes may be cancelled if less than the minimum number of students are enrolled within ten days before the class start date. If Hugo House needs to cancel a class for any reason, students can choose between receiving a full credit toward future classes or full refund.

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