Weirdness as Portal into Poetry
Sometimes what you need is to step away from the everyday world and into a strange one. Because of the worlds it opens for you; because there’s world after world to explore; because there’s nothing better than the pleasure of surprising yourself. In service to getting ourselves unstuck, to opening doors, to finding ourselves in unexpected territory, and to simply finding joy, we’ll read other writers who do this, and we’ll attempt to do it ourselves. The class will be divided between discussion of work that uses weirdness as a portal, writing exercises designed to make you weird, instructor feedback, and peer workshopping. Writers we’ll draw inspiration from: Italo Calvino, Renee Gladman, Sabrina Orah Mark, Miho Nonaka, Carl Phillips, & Diane Williams. By the end of the workshop, participants will have an increased sense of their individual writing eccentricities, as well as possessing a stronger aptitude towards risk-taking in their own writing.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online via Zoom. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. On Thursday September 29th from 5:30pm to 6:00pm, MWPA staff will offer a tech help session on Zoom. Students are encouraged to attend the tech help session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, if they have any tech concerns, use Zoom infrequently, or simply would like to test their connection, and those who do not are responsible for ensuring that they are able to use Zoom on their own. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the test session and the class.
+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).
