“Remake It, Don’t Break It”: Prose Poems with Ruben Quesada (via Zoom)

In “Remake It, Don’t Break It” we’ll explore imaginative and innovative possibilities in writing poetry without line breaks. Our practice will employ the craft of lineated poetry and traditional narrative, including attention to language, syntax, and sound; rhythmic or imagistic patterning; repetition; precision; compression. The intersection of poetry and prose offers a range of possibilities for style and subject. I encourage a diversity of styles and subject matters, and I encourage you to take risks in your work.

We will write together and discuss poetic elements as we practice writing. Reading will include poetry and essays Lu Xun, Carl Phillips, Ai, Sarah Fathima Mohammed, Esther Lee, Raymond Antrobus, Jennifer Huang, and more.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom and will be capped at 15 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 ask@writerscenter.org with any questions.

The scholarship application for the Altman Person of Color Scholarships, Limp Wrist LGBTQIA+ Scholarships, and the Need-Based Scholarships will be available on May 1 and will be due on May 15 for all summer and fall classes.

Ruben Quesada, Ph.D. is editor of Latinx Poetics: Essays on the Art of Poetry (University of New Mexico Press, 2022) and author of Revelations (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2018), Next Extinct Mammal (Greenhouse Review Press, 2011), and translator of Selected Translations of Luis Cernuda (Aureole Press, 2008). Dr. Quesada has served as an editor for AGNI, Pleiades, and The Kenyon Review. His writing appears in Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, and Harvard Review. He is an Associate Teaching Fellow at The Attic Institute and is the founder of the Mercy Street Reading Series. He lives in Chicago.