Erasure: What Am I Missing? with Jennifer Sperry Steinorth via Zoom

The literary form of erasure allows an artist to interrogate authors, history, power and collective consciousness via the transformation of textual artifacts. Some view this act as akin to the creation of graven images—destroying the “original work” of one author for the unoriginal and perhaps subpar work of another. But how might erasure create dynamics that cannot be achieved via other forms?  What can we discover from what we cover up? And what are we, as readers, to make of these (co-authored?) texts, particularly in cases when linguistic structures we cling to for sense-making have been subverted? How are we as writers, teachers, and editors to evaluate the craft, efficacy and ethics of such attempts?

A brief lecture on essential gifts and dangers of erasure, followed by close reading, discussion and in-class exercises.  We will also briefly discuss ways of teaching erasure that emphasize the craft of this art. This class can be classified as covering the hybrid / experimental genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing.

Registration is $124 for this intensive class. Please register at:
Erasure:  What Am I Missing? with Jennifer Sperry Steinorth via Zoom | Hudson Valley Writers Center

Please note: Two person of color scholarships and one need-based scholarship are given on a first come, first served basis to writers living within the US. Please notify us right away if your plans change and you cannot attend the class. We will then reopen the slot so another student may register. Thank you in advance for this consideration.  Please refer to our Scholarships page before registering for Person of Color Scholarship or Need Based Scholarship. Thank you.

Jennifer Sperry Steinorth‘s books include A Wake with Nine Shades (Texas Review Press, 2019) and Her Read: A Graphic Poem (TRP, 2021). She has received grants from Vermont Studio Center, the Sewanee Writers Conference, and Community of Writers. Her poetry has recently appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Black Warrior Review, The Cincinnati Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Missouri Review, Poetry Northwest, Pleiades, Rhino, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere.  An interdisciplinary artist and licensed builder, she teaches and designs homes in northern Michigan.