9496 - Contemporary Poetry Practice
Course Description
Join us to learn the lesson that the late Alice Notley famously expressed: all art belongs to poetry.
This course will immerse you in a writing practice modeled from contemporary poets. You will read and analyze the work of poets from several movements, including postmodernism, language poets, and digital poetics. The course will emphasize the major and minor voices of each movement, and make a point to recognize whose voices were left out or minimized.
From this study, you will then write a portfolio of work building toward your own interpretation of contemporary aesthetics in poetry. You will learn formal and informal writing techniques, including poetic memoir, digital storytelling, and mixed-genre poetics, and engage in creative critique of your peers’ work.
Weather permitting, classes will move outside so we can seek inspiration from RISD's beautiful campus.
Learner Outcomes
Following completion of this course, you should be able to:- Read and analyze complex poems from a variety of contemporary authors
- Learn and understand diverse contemporary poetry movements in the United States and globally
- Identify and discuss poetic elements, forms, and cultural context for meaning
- Write, re-write, and revise a body of original work for workshop and potential publication
- Utilize elements of digital design, performance, and other visual culture in composing
- Develop a unique personal writing style in an open, robust, creative environment
- Give and receive thoughtful and constructive feedback in a workshop setting
- Share and perform work with peers through weekly presentations, both performative and digital
- Prepare a final chapbook of your best work for sharing and potential publication
Notes
For RISD Students:
RISD Continuing Education (CE) credit is treated as transfer credit by RISD’s undergraduate degree programs. If approved, satisfactory completion of this course with a ‘C’ or better can count as 3 transfer credits toward Literary Arts and Studies (LAS) elective requirements. Complete the Prior Approval for Liberal Arts Credit form in etrieve before completing the online course registration.
Students from institutions other than RISD:
Students seeking academic credits are urged to contact their home institution to arrange prior approval before registering. Policies on transfer credit vary by institution and by program, and it is at the discretion of your home institution to determine what credits it will accept and how they might meet individual academic requirements. For additional information about RISD Summer Intensives and Transfer Credit Policies, visit our webpage.
Prerequisites
Students must be an adult age 18 or older to participate.Instructors
- Laura Marciano