On March 25, on behalf of Kundiman, Myung Mi Kim led a powerhouse Master Class for Fordham graduate students at the Fordham Lincoln Center campus. Check out the video and the below student testimonials.
Myung Mi Kim’s Masters class is unlike any graduate experience I have ever had. In two hours the way I thought about language and writing was transformed. I am leaving today so revitalized with creative energy. Walls and blockades in my own process have been broken down and the meaning I knew was there was articulated to me so clearly, giving me a coherent mission in my creative life. I wish I could take this class again and again. I will use what I learned today forever.
--Anna Marie Anastasi
In a two-hour session on cold rainy Wednesday night at the end of March Myung Mi Kim radially changed my perception of language. Her approach diverged from any workshop I’ve experienced in that it not only activated our own creative potential (and reaffirmed for us the pleasure we take words—why we came here in the first place!) but forced us to re-imagine our theoretical conception of how language works. Myung raised profound questions about how to express the inexpressible and the moral responsibility of poetry. I got chills the entire way through. I was exhausted coming in and now I can’t wait to go home and start working. Thank you!
--Rachel Federman
I came in feeling overwhelmed and tired – but I am leaving feeling inspired – a rekindling – Taking a few hours (not enough for sure!) to remember why and hear and feel an enjoyment about language that sometimes feels lost or buried (especially 6 weeks before a semester ends). The importance of feeling about writing is enough to activate the desire to think this way again. I cannot thank you enough. --Amie Reilly
I loved the Master class – it made me think of language in a completely new way. The idea of inhabiting language as a space (which necessarily means uninhabiting it) was particularly powerful for me. She offered a brief reading list for further study, and I wish we could have a class designed for the examination and discussion of this subject. Poetry in general is so typically devalued in both our culture and our education system – a class like this is important to have.
--Allison Wright
Myung Mi Kim’s discussion of language is a super-productive arrangement/revision/discussion on language as political, ethical, aesthetic. Opportunities to engage in such discussions, particularly within a classroom presence which brings together so many different perspectives, feels all too rare. An exceedingly excellent experience. --Aaron Pinnix
I came in wanting to learn the technicalities of the process of poetics, of “poesis,” but she defied those expectations. She introduced ideology that freed up self-imposed or external barriers to my writing process. She did not leave it at just ideology, theory – but we put it in practice with experiments. What a joy it was to take this class, to learn from her. I hope there will be more classes like this. --Kathrene Binag
Myung’s class was a wonderful experience. Even though I don’t really work directly with poetry, she helped me think about poetry as something that could exist beyond the purely linguistic: that language experience includes physically, materiality, etc. Myung’s use of theory to explain her ideas, then transitioning to activities, was a great pedagogical decision that made the class incredibly rewarding for a 2-hour session.
--Chris
It was a fascinating talk. I’ve always considered myself as a consumer of poetry, not a producer/creator, primarily because of the language barrier I’m struggling with English as a foreign language, but her idea about the materiality of language gave me a spark that I can perhaps start from the absence of language, which I think will absolutely help my future research. Thank you so much. --Jihyn Yun
I have never taken a class like this and it completely blew me away. I learned a lot about the uses of language. I have never thought about the physicality of words before. The exercises we did helped to divorce me from the idea of writing as a linear process. This was completely freeing and it made writing feel joyful again (it’s cheesy but true). Sometimes in grad school I feel awed by the talent around me and it can be intimidating, so to have this experience was an incredible gift. --Sarah Shultz