When interviewed at the 2017 AWP Conference by PBS Newshour, Eileen Myles said “AWP is the closest thing to a convention we have, and we love to hate conventions—in every sense of the word.” In this workshop with anti-workshop aspects we will honor work that goes against the grain and challenges the conventions and norms of poetry and society, the kind of poetry that makes you think “I didn’t know a poem could be like this!” Weekly readings will include poems and craft essays by a mix of historic and contemporary luminaries such as the very recently deceased Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, C.D. Wright, Evie Shockley, Lillian Yvonne-Bertram, Mary Ruefle, Arthur Sze, Ariana Reines, Bernadette Mayer, and June Jordan, among many, many others.
Whether you are new to poetry or a seasoned writer, this class will provide extensive generative writing prompts, peer workshops, and in-depth conversations to help interrogate our own love-hate relationships with anything and everything conventional. Throughout our ten weeks together we will ask “What is poetry?” “What is my poetry?” and “What happens when I stop worrying so much and just write?”
A former Editor-in-Chief for Sycamore Review, Anthony Sutton holds an MFA in poetry from Purdue University. He resides on former Akokiksas, Atakapa, Karankawa, and Sana land (currently named Houston, Texas) and has poems appear or forthcoming in Gulf Coast, Indianapolis Review, The Journal, Passages North, Prairie Schooner, Puerto del Sol, Quarter After Eight, Third Coast, and elsewhere.