For the form-curious or form-loving, form-hating or form-ignorant, this intensive will introduce and explain what form is as well as what tools can be employed to create form. Over the course of the 6 weeks, we will explore several of the major poetic forms in anglophone poetry: the sonnet, villanelle, sestina, pantoum, ghazal, haiku, haibun, and duplex. In the final classes, accompanied by creative examples in contemporary poetry, we will even experiment with the invention of our own poetic forms. Form is a set of tools and rules— helpful to have in your back pocket, so that it becomes truly a choice when or whether to use them. This course takes inspiration from the world of games, where we invent the rules in order to play.
General Admission Cost: $268
Instructor Bio: Anna Genevieve Winham is an award-winning writer who serves as the Major Gifts Officer for Graywolf Press. She has taught both virtual and in-person form poetry classes for PSNY, Passengers Journal, and Tri-Mic, and she co-facilitated a form poetry workshop series with Haleh Liza Gafori. Anna was also the Editor-in-Chief for Passengers Journal and the Journal Coordinator for Oxford Public Philosophy, and she won Ninth Letter's 2020 literary award in Literary Nonfiction for a "notable" essay in Best American Essays 2021.