Eco-Poetry Craft Class with David Baker, in person at HVWC & via Zoom


This two-hour course will focus on the contemporary lyric poem as it centers on nature, with significant attention to classical lyric modes that inflect and shape the current nature poem. For example, how do the pastoral and idyll, among several other important modes, lead us to the environmental poem, to docu-poetry, and ecopoetry? We’ll also make several stop-offs between ancient classical models and recent poems. I’ll provide plenty of historical context as well as poems for us to read and discuss. I’ll also provide prompts and ideas for writing your own work, for those class members interested in writing poetry as well as reading it. To prepare, please read and bring along Emerson’s essay “Nature.” 

This is not a workshop; it is a craft talk and will be taught in person (capped at 10) at HVWC. Up to 15 participants can audit on Zoom.

Scholarships are available for this course. For more information on how to apply (fall applications are due August 15, 2021) visit our Scholarships page. Please read all Course policies before enrolling for a class. 

David Baker is a poet, educator, editor, and literary critic. He was born in 1954 in Bangor, Maine, grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, and since 1983 has lived in central Ohio.  He received his B.S.E. and M.A. degrees in English from the University of Central Missouri and his Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah, where he also served from 1980-83 as Editor and Poetry Editor of Quarterly West.  Since 1984 Baker has taught at Denison University, in Granville, Ohio, where he is currently Professor of English and holds the Thomas B. Fordham Chair of Creative Writing. Baker also serves frequently on the faculty of the MFA program for writers at Warren Wilson College and former Poetry Editor of The Kenyon Review.

Event Location and Ticket Information

Date: Sunday, September 18, 2022
Times: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Ticket pricing:

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Presenter: Hudson Valley Writers Center
Presenter Phone: 9143325953