Thursdays 10-12 Noon
January 15 through February 19, 2004
D.O.C. House
Of the hundreds of American poets whose work has emerged since World War II, some are widely known and admired; others are scarcely visible, deservedly or not. Those of us who enjoy poetry are always happy to discover another kindred or striking voice amidst the babble.
Using an anthology of contemporary American poetry, we will search out poets and individual poems that we really like, then discuss why we like them. To open discussion, two or three participants will lead off each week with their findings. As appropriate, we will collaborate on close readings of some of the “richest” poems, exploring their voice, sense, and imagery. As far as possible, we will try to avoid academic gobbledygook. The objective for each participant will be to choose his or her personal “best” five or ten poets for further study after the course is over.
Class is limited to 12 members.
Jack Folsom has a B.A. from Yale (1953) and MA and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (1956, 1961). His dissertation field was Renaissance poetry, but he has taught a variety of courses in literature, creative writing, and linguistics at Boston University, Aristotelian University in Greece, and Montana State University. His research specialty for the last 20 years has been the life and art of Sylvia Plath.
