Sagacious Syllabics: A Poetry Workshop with Lory Bedikian

“As poets, we think we are experiencing writer's block when really it is just that we have too much material that needs control, form and measure. In this workshop we will consider what it means, looks and sounds like to write in syllabics or to compose syllabic verse (s.v.). We'll look at the question of can these poems be viewed as verse at all? We'll look at what the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has to offer — how Robert Bridges, Marianne Moore, Dylan Thomas are often the examples given for this form, however Moore kicks poetic behind in s.v. Specifically, we will analyze poems from Marilyn Hacker's fantastic collection Names, which is mainly constructed in syllabics (alongside ghazals).” —Lory Bedikian