The Voice in Question [Rick Barot]

The textures of a strong poet’s voice can seem both perfectly identifiable and mysteriously indescribable. Parsing a poet’s voice can be a vexing exercise, involving a complex amalgam of subject matter, style and craft, features of biography and identity, plus any number of other elements. Using some remarkable models—from Frank Bidart to Lois Ann Yamanaka, Brigit Pegeen Kelly to Arthur Sze—we’ll examine the constitution of a poet’s voice. The instructor will assign a weekly writing prompt, and part of each class meeting will be devoted to lightly workshopping the poems written by participants.