Charles Olson
Lorine Niedecker
Elizabeth Bishop
Gwendolyn Brooks
W.S. Merwin
Roque Dalton
Myung Mi Kim
2008 Spring | TR 15.30-16.45 | Cabell 423
Description
This survey course, which will mix lecture and discussion, is intended primarily for English majors, and will focus on the styles and themes of recent and contemporary American poets. Beginning with the epic scope of Charles Olson and the lyric condensation of Lorine Niedecker, we will proceed to cover major movements and traditions including beat poetry, confessional poetry, deep image poetry, language poetry, the Black Arts Movement, the Black Mountain School, the New York School, and the San Francisco Renaissance, drawing also on currents in hemispheric and multiethnic American poetry.
We will depend heavily on multimedia materials, accessing many poems not only in their published forms but also in their recorded versions, turning at semester's end to movements beyond print culture such as digital poetry and spoken word. Beyond representative figures we will look to lesser-known individuals from a wide range of traditions. Beyond the poems themselves we will consider related documents including letters and prose manifestos. Course requirements will include class participation, a series of short writing assignments, a pair of essays, a web presence, and a final exam.
Collab Course Site
Most of our work this semester will be run through a Collab Course Site, which will be limited to the members of ENMC 330.