This is an in-person workshop that takes place at Inprint House.
Is writing an act of memory or discovery? How do we craft sentences whose truths feel fresh and urgent, yet also recognizable?
The poet and scholar Stephanie Burt once wrote that “all poems raise questions; only some have answers.” Lyric truth can reside in either side of this tension—the question or the answer—in equal measure. It can also privilege the interrogative side of this tension (rarely does it seem to privilege the answer).
In this class, we’ll discuss the craft elements of lyric truth, which often expands language away from that of factual truth or knowledge. We’ll look at both poetry and prose including writers such as Diane Seuss, Ada Limón, Natalie Diaz, Carl Phillips, Laura Kasischke, Ross Gay, Vanessa Angélica Villareal, Kiese Laymon, Paul Celan, and others. We will use our class discussions to generate new work as well as get plenty of custom-tailored feedback to suit each individual writer’s needs and preferences. This class is open to essayists, poets, and fiction writers.
JOSH ESTANISLAO LOPEZ is the author of We Borrowed Gentleness (Alice James Books 2022). His poems have been featured in The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, The Rumpus, BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext, The Slowdown Podcast, and elsewhere. He lives and teaches in his hometown, Houston.
