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READING & WRITING THE LYRIC
with Diane di Prima
LYRIC POETRY FROM 1940 TO THE PRESENT
Why is it so hard to write a good love poem?
Do you still think of poetry as a burst of ecstatic song?
In some circles, the lyric poem has fallen out of fashion, and yet for
many of us it is still what comes to mind when we speak of the
poem. "Lyric" of course refers to the lyre—the stringed instrument
which the Greek poets (& others) used in performance, so included
here is a sense of poetry as Song. In the three classes held in 2008,
we will read and discuss poems written from the middle of the 20th
century to the present. We will also listen to poets reading their own
work for the pleasure and insight it affords. At times this may lead us
to look further at the some of the difficulties and methods of getting
the poem onto the page.
This is the fourth year of summer workshops on the Lyric Poem, but this
group of 3 classes is complete in itself. You need not have attended
any previous years. The three seven-hour sessions will be held on June
8, June 29 and July 20, and will include time for our own writing and a
pot-luck lunch. The fee of $350 covers amazing handouts of poetry—both
well-known and obscure. A deposit of $100 is required with registration.
Call Diane at (415) 841-0717 for more information.
or send an
email to
ddiprima@earthlink.net
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