Writing Hybrid Forms [Shayla Lawson]

The nontraditional texts of writers Claudia Rankine and Maggie Nelson brought new readers to poetry. But are these works poetry? How do we define genre, showcase our critical observations, champion our individual lyric? In this class, we will blur the lines between genres, commandeering creative license in order to deconstruct form—examining the texts of Nelson, Rankine, and contemporary writers from the Pacific Northwest—through a mixture of critical reading and independent writing.