We'll spend a week together generating poems, and each day we’ll start something new together. Each class will kick off with a lyric “scramble,” a playful dive into language using liberating constraints to create fresh ideas. We’ll then consider the work of two poets (one contemporary and one pre-20th century), and after gleaning stylistic moves from each, then take forays into the following: a mythological tale, visual art, a rhetorical trope, idioms, and song lyrics ranging from Rodgers & Hart to Prince. We’ll take these calculated moves and whatever inspiration you bring from personal experience and your own passions to create more textured, layered, and seriously playful poems. As we challenge any preexisting intentions and expectations that we bring to a blank page, we’ll embrace randomness and delight in accidents. Later in the week, we’ll circle back and consider strategies for revision. You can expect fun and engaging in-class writing prompts, a field trip to the fabulous University of Iowa art museum, optional take-home assignments, readings from a class packet full of excellent poems, and, towards week’s end, supportive discussions of the work you generate. A great introduction for beginning poets or a refresher for experienced poets looking to jumpstart their work.

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through exercises and assignments.