My Upcoming Workshop at the Poetry Project

SIMPLE TEXT(S): POETRY IN AND AROUND PROSE

You’ve heard it before: why is it that poets can write prose, but prose writers can’t write poetry? Maybe it’s because prose writers haven’t fully explored the places where poetry and prose effectively come together — the textural artus points that hinge and pivot to access the strengths of both forms. In this workshop (open, of course, to poets who want to bring narrative intentionality to their work without sacrificing imagery), we will look at prose that blends narrative with idiosyncratic language (Clarice Lispector’s The Hour of the Star; Elizabeth Smart’s By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept), prose that includes poetry (Ki no Tsurayuki’s The Tosa Diary), prose vignettes (16th and 17th century Chinese “hsiao-p’in"; Fernando Pessoa’s Book of Disquiet), prose-poem essays (Nelson Algren’s Chicago: City on the Make) dream stories (Kafka’s The Bucket Rider), flarf fiction and cut-ups. The above texts and many others will serve as examples for beginning, extending and finishing hybrid poem-stories.

Tuesdays, 7-9 pm, beginning February 9, in the Parish Hall of St. Mark's Church,131 E. 10th Street (near 2nd Avenue), New York City


Workshop fee is $350, which includes a one year Sustaining Poetry Project membership and tuition for any and all spring and fall classes. Reservations are required due to limited class space, and payment must be received in advance. Caps on class sizes, if in effect, will be determined by workshop leaders. Registration begins officially on January 5th. If you would like to reserve a spot in this class, please call 212-674-0910 or go to http://poetryproject.org/ and click on "Program Calendar" and then "Workshops."

Should be good! I am personally looking forward to it!