In this seminar, we will read four remarkable poetry collections that came out in 2021 — Douglas Kearney’s Sho, CA Conrad’s Amanda Paradise, Divya Victor’s CURB, and Jackie Wang’s The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void — and spend deeper time with texts, art, collaborations, and performances that surround, predate, and/or constellate those books. 

What can we learn about 21st century poetry collections through this study? What can we learn about how a poet arrives to the contemporary moment? What are all the modes a poet might work in before, during, and through writing a book of poetry? How do one poet’s prior publications, collaborations with other artists, and relations to institutions (e.g. the factory, the prison, the university; history, nation, community, poetry) affect how we find them on the page?

Course Requirements:

In terms of written work, this class will require ongoing informal written responses for each class meeting and one major assignment per poet (by default, an essay, though creative and hybrid critical-creative responses are also invited), as well as a final personal-critical reflection on contemporary poetry and poetics.