Yearlong in Poetry: A Study of Form
In this yearlong course, we'll focus on various poetic forms with specific craft constraints and/or thematic traditions. Within a community providing support and accountability, you’ll generate new material toward personalized deadlines. The class's longer format offers a unique opportunity to develop a larger body of work (e.g., linked sequence, draft chapbook, or full-length collection). Through workshop sessions, you'll sharpen your editorial skills as you provide and receive constructive feedback. Workshop experience required. Two guest speakers will join us to share their experiences of working within formal traditions.
Payment plans are available for this class. Please email education@hugohouse.org to get a payment plan started.
Guest speakers: TBD—published poets with a first or second book who are also likely teachers of poetry.
Syllabus: Available by request. Please email welcome@hugohouse.org.
No class dates: 10/25/2023, 11/22/2023, 12/27/23, 1/3/2024, 3/27/2024, 4/24/2024
Registration dates:
August 7: Scholarship Donation Day
August 8: Member registration opens at 10:30 am
August 15: General registration opens at 10:30 am
August 21: Last day of Early Bird pricing
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CLASS FAQS WITH INSTRUCTOR DILRUBA AHMED
Who is this class best suited for? How much writing experience do I need to take this class?
This class is well suited for any student interested in a sustained study of poetic form. Students who typically write free verse will find their poetry is strengthened by learning more about the intersection of craft and content across poetic traditions. Participants should have past experience with providing constructive feedback on peer work (at least one workshop).
What will I learn over the course of this yearlong?
Through weekly readings, class discussions, and prompts, students will learn how to “read like a writer,” with a focus on poetic forms that have specific craft constraints and/or thematic traditions, Students will also learn how to provide constructive feedback on peer work while also getting periodic feedback on their own draft poems.
What's the balance of in-class generative writing, lecture, and workshop?
Using guiding questions specific to weekly readings, our class will devote the first hour of class to unpacking key aspects of the relationship between form and content. Classes are discussion-based with the expectation of student participant in small groups and whole class conversations. Workshop will take place weekly during the second hour of class, with a rotating schedule. In-class writing will be limited; however, students will receive weekly prompts inspired by class readings.
How much time outside of class will I need for this class each week?
Students should plan to spend about 60-90 minutes combined on class readings and peer comments for workshop. Time spent on weekly writing prompts varies.
How much feedback will I receive on my work, peer, or instructor?
We’ll focus more on “process” than “product” in this class; as such, this yearlong class provides a rich & supportive environment for growth, exploration, and experimentation with key craft strategies and poetic structures. Students will receive brief written comments from peers after each workshop turn. Instructor will provide verbal feedback during each workshop turn.
Who will we be reading?
Our reading list of poetic forms will focus largely on contemporary poets working within (and reinventing) traditional poetic forms, with acknowledgement of literary ancestors. Weekly readings will include a range of aesthetic approaches, with thought and care given to diverse representation. Readings will include work by (but not limited to) poets such as Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Ellen Bass, Ross Gay, Rick Barot, Safia Elhillo, torrin a. greathouse, Natasha Tretheway, Heather McHugh, Jericho Brown, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, and many, many others….
Dilruba Ahmed
Dilruba Ahmed is the author of Bring Now the Angels (Pitt Poetry Series, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020). Her debut book of poetry, Dhaka Dust (Graywolf Press), won the Bakeless Prize. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry. Her poems have also been anthologized in The Best American Poetry 2019 (Scribner), Halal If You Hear Me (Haymarket Books), Literature: The Human Experience (Bedford/St. Martin’s), Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry (University of Arkansas), and elsewhere. Ahmed is the recipient of The Florida Review’s Editors’ Award, a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize, and the Katharine Bakeless Nason Fellowship in Poetry awarded by the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. She holds degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers.
Website: www.dilrubaahmed.com
Instagram: dilruba_ahmed20, https://www.instagram.com/dilruba_ahmed20/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dilruba.ahmed Web: https://www.dilrubaahmed.com/writing-lab
