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READING & WRITING THE LYRIC

with Diane di Prima
 

LYRIC POETRY SINCE WORLD WAR TWO
 

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 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 is a sense of poetry as Song. In the three classes held in 2009, 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 fifth 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 14, June 28 and July 26, and will include time for our own writing and a pot-luck lunch. The fee of $400 includes amazing handouts of poems—both well-known and obscure. A deposit of $100 is required with registration.

 

Call Diane at (415) 841-0717 for more information.




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