Poetry as Séance [Kristina Jipson]

We’ll explore how innovative contemporary writers are using hybridity, erasure, collage, and other experimental tactics to bridge the gap between the living and the dead. We will read and discuss literary séances by Susan Howe, M. NourbeSe Philip, Rusty Morrison, Claudia Rankine, Anne Carson, and others. Students will be given exercises to help them draw inspiration from these unusual pieces, and we will devote a portion of each class to workshopping and exploring future directions for this generative writing.