Modern Poems in Traditional Forms

Description

Some poets find writing in traditional forms “monotonous,” “confining,” or even “straitjacketing," says David Rosenthal. "Others feel like poet Timothy Steele, who says, “I employ the traditional instruments of verse simply because I love the symmetries and surprises that they produce and because meter especially allows me to render feelings and ideas more flexibly and precisely than I otherwise could.”

So which is it – monotonous or surprising, confining or flexible? In this workshop, you will get to decide for yourself. Each week, David Rosenthal will guide you through an exploration of traditional formal techniques – especially meter and rhyme – as well as some specific forms, leading ultimately to perhaps the most exacting yet flexible of forms: the sonnet.

Along the way, you will try your hand at a variety of forms, and read a range of examples of formal work to discover the ways in which formal elements can inform and enhance your writing, whether or not you plan to continue the pursuit of strictly formal writing.

David Rosenthal has taught students at every level from kindergarten to college. His poems have appeared in dozens of print and online journals including Measure, Blue Unicorn, Soundzine, Modern Haiku, The Flea, and The Chimaera. He has been a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award finalist, and a semi-finalist for both the Richard Wilbur Poetry Award and the Donald Justice Poetry Prize. He lives in Berkeley with his wife and two daughters and teaches kindergarten and first grade in the Oakland public schools.

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Link

http://www.writingsalons.com

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415.609.2468

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