ENGL 6516

Songs of Experiment: Disruptions of Lyricism in Contemporary Anglophone Black Poetry

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2021-2022.

In this class we will closely read six books of contemporary black poetry written in English. We will consider how this poetry negotiates the distance between experience and experiment, lyricism and analysis, song and the leaving of song. We will consider black poetry as a mode of criticism and that consideration will shape not only the reading but also the writing we do in the class. The writing for the class will consist of a chapbook-length poem or group of poems that will constitute a work of criticism (which we will consider is not the same as a critique) focusing on any or all of what we read in the class. No status or history as a practicing poet is required.

When Offered Spring.

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