A Deeper Dive into Merwin’s work (Part 3) with David Baker (via Zoom)

A writer must be a reader first and last. Your poetic proficiency, your potential goodness or greatness, depends on your depth as a reader. I will take us on a journey through the poetry of W. S. Merwin, from early to middle to late, focusing on three things: the stages of his development; the most remarkable points of his achievement; how to study and use his poems as companionship and inspiration in your own writing. We’ll discuss his radical evolution of form, his tactics of style and idiom, and his narratives of politics, ecology, and selfhood. The gift of his poetry becomes like a whole new language, a soulful mythology. There’ll be abundant reading lists and prompts to take away for your own words to come. This session will be for those who want the deepest dive into Merwin’s oeuvre.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom (Sunday, September 29, 12:30-1:30 PM ET) and will be capped at 20 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to the email address they use to register. It will arrive immediately after registration so please check your spam folder if you do not receive it. It will also be sent the day before class as a reminder. Please review the course policies page before registering for any classes. Please email misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

All HVWC scholarship applications will be available on May 1 and will be due on May 15 for all summer/fall 2024 classes.

David Baker is author of thirteen books of poetry, recently Whale Fall (Norton, 2022), Swift: New and Selected Poems, (2019), Scavenger Loop (2015), and Never-Ending Birds (2009), which won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize. His six books of prose include Seek After: Essays on Modern Lyric Poets (2018) and Show Me Your Environment (2014). Among his awards are prizes and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, Mellon Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, and Poetry Society of America. His work appears in such journals as American Poetry Review, The Atlantic, The Nation, New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Yale Review.