Laying the Foundation: Concrete Imagery in Poetry with Denise Duhamel (via Zoom)

Using Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to things” (“Oda a las cosas”) as our maxim, we will explore arrivals to the sublime via naming and detail. William Carlos Williams wrote, “No ideas but in things,” and Pound applied “imagism” to H.D. who was influenced by Sappho’s compressed lyrics.  We will generate new poems and seedlings for poems via prompts that oblige us to pay attention to precision. Participants should be open to the explosive, cathartic, heartbreaking and hilarious effects of symbolism. Please bring along one or two family photographs (family of origin or family made of friends) for one of the prompts.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom and capped at 17. Link will be sent to email you use to register at the time of registration and again the day before the class. Zoom link will be emailed (check spam) at the time of registration. Please email admin@writerscenter.org with any questions.Please make sure to read our course policies page regarding workshop conduct and logistics before registering for any class at HVWC. Scholarship information will be available for this class in November and applications are due on December 15, 2022.

Denise Duhamel’s most recent books of poetry are Second Story (Pittsburgh, 2021) and Scald (2017). Blowout (2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, she teaches at Florida International University in Miami.