Everyone generally seems to agree that a poem shouldn’t end in the same place it begins. But when a poem changes direction, how do we know that this will be a rewarding path for it to take rather than just a “different” path? What is surprise, how is it created, and what makes it feel meaningful rather than random? How does a poetic turn create a lingering resonance?

The Poetic Turn(s) with Matthew Olzmann will meet on Monday evenings from September 13th–November 1st, at 7:00–9:30 PM ET. This 8-week workshop will look at various strategies for making resonant poetic turns. The class will consider how a reader’s expectations are established, and how those expectations might then be subverted, complicated, or intensified. The format will be a combination of discussions of selected readings, weekly writing prompts, and in-class workshopping. There will be a short individual conference with each participant as well. The goal is to emerge at the end of the class with (at least) eight newly-made poems, as well as some strategies to use in the poems you’ll continue to write long after our time together is over. Selected Readings: Sarah Gambito, Ada Limón, Todd W. Kaneko, Lucille Clifton, Tania James, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Jason Koo, Carl Phillips, Jennifer Chang, Yusef Komunyakaa, Hanif Abdurraqib, Patrick Rosal, and others.

This workshop is open to only Asian American writers. There is one scholarship spot available. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Monday, August 23rd. See the class page for more information.

To see all of our summer and fall classes, visit kundiman.org/online-classes.