English 270
exPEERiMENTAL: a poetry workshop
Wednesdays, 12-2:25

Juliana Spahr
Mills Hall 315
office hours: Tuesdays, 10-11 and by appointment

*

 

January 24
introduction

January 31 and February 7
Each participant submits somewhere between 1-10 pages of work to be discussed. This exercise probably works best if this work is either a single poem or a connected series of poems.

Each participant in the workshop is to make some sort of map or chart of the work of every other participant's work. By map I mean some sort of visual representation that might help the author to resee what they are doing. I've given you some examples from Helen Vendler's close readings of Shakespeare's sonnets but there are many ways to do this assignment, so find your own way. Bring in 13 copies of each map you make.

January 31
poetone presenting, poets seven and eight mapping
poettwo presenting, poets eight and nine mapping
poetthree presenting, poets nine and ten mapping
poetfour presenting, poets ten and eleven mapping
poetfive presenting, poets eleven and twelve mapping
poetsix presenting, poets twelve and one mapping

February 7
poetseven presenting, poets one and two mapping
poeteight presenting, poets two and three mapping
poetnine presenting, poets three and four mapping
poetten presenting, poets four and five mapping
poeteleven presenting, poets five and six mapping
poettwelve presenting, poets six and seven mapping

February 13
t.b.a.

February 21 and February, 28
Each participant will bring in some work, somewhere between 1-10 pages, that either needs more or needs less. Respondents will then either cut ten things from the work and discuss why they did this. Or they will make a list of ten things they would add to the work and discuss why. Respondents decide whether to cut or add, not authors. Respondents should bring in 13 copies of their response.

February 21
poettwelve, poeteight cutting or adding
poeteleven, poetseven cutting or adding
poetten, poetsix cutting or adding
poetnine, poetfive cutting or adding
poeteight, poetfour cutting or adding
poetseven, poetthree cutting or adding

February 28
poetsix, poettwo cutting or adding
poetfive, poetone cutting or adding
poetfour, poetnine cutting or adding
poetthree, poetten cutting or adding
poettwo, poeteleven cutting or adding
poetone, poettwelve cutting or adding

March 7 and March 14
Participants are to bring in some work, however many pages that they find most appropriate at this moment. And with their work they should submit copies of some other piece of writing by someone else--an essay (a short one or an excerpt from a longer essay) or a poem or a news article or something that they feel illuminates or gives another perspective to their work. They should also fill out and submit one of Robert Duncan's influence maps for their work as a whole (not just the work they are submitting).

Each participant in the workshop is to respond by supplying copies of some other piece of writing (or an excerpt from this writing) by someone else that they feel illuminates or gives another perspective to the poet's work and also a paragraph where they explain why they chose the piece they chose. Participants should bring in 13 copies of both the suggested piece of writing and their response. (This assignment stolen from comments made by Laurel deCou and Elizabeth Anderson.)

March 7
poetone presenting, poeteight suggesting additional reading
poettwo presenting, poetnine suggesting additional reading
poetthree presenting, poetten suggesting additional reading
poetfour presenting, poeteleven suggesting additional reading
poetfive presenting, poettwelve suggesting additional reading
poetsix presenting, poetseven suggesting additional reading

March 14
poetseven presenting, poettwo suggesting additional reading
poeteight presenting, poetthree suggesting additional reading
poetnine presenting, poetfour suggesting additional reading
poetten presenting, poetfive suggesting additional reading
poeteleven presenting, poetsix suggesting additional reading
poettwelve presenting, poetone suggesting additional reading

March 20
spring break

March 28 and April 11
Bring in a big chunk of your work. Around thirty pages. Maybe more. Respondents are to go through this work and create an index or glossary or outline. This index or glossary should be creative and illuminative, not merely representative. See the Thalia Field and Joshua Clover examples on online reserve. (This assignment stolen from comments by Jacob Eichert.)

March 28
poetone presenting, poetnine indexing
poettwo presenting, poetten indexing
poetthree presenting, poeteleven indexing
poetfour presenting, poettwelve indexing
poetfive presenting, poetseven indexing
poetsix presenting, poeteight indexing

April 4
t.b.a.

April 11
poetseven presenting, poetthree indexing
poeteight presenting, poetfour indexing
poetnine presenting, poetfive indexing
poetten presenting, poetsix indexing
poeteleven presenting, poetone indexing
poettwelve presenting, poettwo indexing

April 18, 25 and May 2
Because everyone should know everyone's work by now, we will this time around just respond to it. Each respondent is to design an "experiment" or a "process" or an "exercise" or some sort of "machine" that should produce a poem in the style of the poets to whom they are responding. The exercises should be doable and also works of art in themselves. They might also function as gifts. I would suggest reading Jackson MacLow's "Make Your Own Experiment" and also the Bernadette Mayer and Charles Bernstein experiments lists for inspiration.

April 18
poetone responds to poettwo and poetthree
poettwo responds to poetthree and poetfour
poetthree responds to poetfour and poetfive
poetfour responds to poetfive and poetsix

April 25
poetfive responds to poetsix and poetseven
poetsix responds to poetseven and poeteight
poeteight responds to poetnine and poetten
poetnine responds to poetten and poeteleven

May 2
poetseven responds to poeteight and poetnine
poetten responds to poeteleven and poettwelve
poeteleven responds to poettwelve and poetone
poettwelve responds to poetone and poettwo