This is an in-person workshop that takes place at Inprint House

The Function and Freedom of Poetic Forms

“I didn’t know just yet the true magic that is form poetry, how the restrictions and rules that originally bind the forms can, in new and surprising ways, free you.” -Rosebud Ben-Oni

How do we recognize or interact with traditional poetic forms? How does a formal approach to poetry impact the content and delivery of our written works? In this course, we will explore traditional forms of poetry to answer these questions—to determine the function and freedom that can be found within. We will discuss common poetic structures and how these traditional forms may create surprise and lead to innovation in more contemporary work.

We will read closely about formal poetic strategies and craft, and workshop our own pieces based on our learnings.  We will also look at the ways in which contemporary poets such as Terrance Hayes, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Chen Chen, Diane Seuss, Meg Day, and Natalie Diaz have breathed new life into older forms such as the sonnet, sestina, pantoum, and haibun as ways to explore how these forms can be revitalized and reimagined for our contemporary moment. Over this six-week class we will try our hand at writing in our own voices with form and constraint in mind. We will write with a collaborative sense of experimentation and discovery, with an eye towards confronting form not as restrictive, but as a site of play and potential.