Evening Poetry (in-person class) — This class is now closed.

Instructor: James Cole
$189 Members | $210 Nonmembers
Thursdays, 3/30/23 – 5/18/23 | 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm ET

Before signing up for this in-person class, please read the following statement about requirements to enroll:

By registering for an in-person offering, you attest that you have been vaccinated for Covid-19. WriterHouse strongly recommends any student at greater risk for contracting Covid-19 wear a mask. In the event of significant Covid-19 upticks, students must be prepared for the mask policy to change and to transition to a virtual platform if necessary. No refunds will be issued if in-person classes/seminars need to transition online.

For much of literary history poetry has served as a core cultural medium meant to evoke, inform, and entertain. While its earliest iterations focused on narrative and didacticism, more contemporary forms emphasize poetry’s conceptual elements, the formation and illustration of complex ideas in interesting, often bizarre combinations of sound, form, and meaning. In this course, poets will explore the foundations of conceptual writing. Students will be challenged to break from their conventional literary mindsets to approach more avant-garde, process-driven styles with an emphasis on developing complex central metaphors. Each class will include brief lecture portions on the history of conceptualism, analysis of poems, open discussion, performance workshops, writing exercises, and weekly critiques. This course is principally designed for students who want to escape creative ruts through experimentation. Although this course is aimed at more advanced students, newcomers to poetry are also welcome.

NOTE: Though writing assignments will be completed in and outside of class, this is not a workshop. About half our time will be devoted to discussion and analysis of poetics. Optional readings will be provided in addition to weekly writing assignments.

James Cole is an author, poet, scientist, and filmmaker based out of Charlottesville, VA. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Virginia Medical School, where he studies degenerative retinal diseases. In 2016 he won The Gallery Poetry Prize and in 2017 he was a Semi-Finalist for the VWC Golden Nib Award. He is the founder of the Charlottesville Poetry Critique Circle, a community organizer for the Live Poets Society, and a regular instructor at the VWC Annual Symposium. His first collection, Crow, come home, was released by VerbalEyze Press in November of 2019.

Registration is now closed for this class series.