Instructor: Carla Carlson
Length: 5 sessions, $450
Tuesdays, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Our goal in this class will be to become more conscious of the tools available to us as we make lines of poetry, such that we eliminate lines that take our reader out of the poem, and keep and improve upon lines which strengthen the intention of our poems. We will discuss specific lines—
Beneath is all the fiend’s. There’s hell, there’s darkness.—Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.—
This is how you live when you have a cold heart— from poems by Shakespeare, Keats, Bishop, Louise Gluck, Berryman, and more, asking ourselves why they move us. We will experiment—moving lines up and down, changing line length, syntax, enjambments, and observe how manipulations alter the success of a poem. As we share our work, we will offer comments to each other, focusing on what we’ve discovered about placement, line endings, meaning, accessibility vs. obscurity, etc., promoting for each other clearer understanding of how we can utilize these elements, line after line, to form a cohesive piece.
Recommended text: The Art of the Poetic Line, by James Longenbach
Carla Carlson is the author of the chapbook Love and Oranges. She is an MFA alum from Sarah Lawrence College. She spends her time as a full time poet, editor, scholar and volunteer citizen among NYC area poets, and sits on the board of advisors to Four Way Books. She and her husband live in Bronxville, NY.
Writing Institute Registration Process:
Step 1 - Registration Information: Complete this registration form in full.
Step 2 - Payment: Once you click submit on this form, a new page will appear in your browser with a payment link. Click on the payment link, complete the required information, and submit your payment.
Payment is required for your registration to be confirmed. If we don’t receive your payment within 48 hours of submission of this form, your registration will automatically be cancelled. You will have to complete the form again if you wish to register for the class.
Step 3 - Confirmation: Once we receive your payment, your registration will be finalized and confirmed with an email. Please keep this email for your records. Details about room assignment, parking, and any other information relevant to the course will be emailed to registered students the week before classes begin.
If you have questions about the registration process, please call us at 914-395-2205 or email cce@sarahlawrence.edu. Registration is no longer available because the registration deadline has passed.