Shaping Visual Form with Emily Luan (via Zoom)

In A Little Book on Form, Robert Hass names one definition of poetic form as the “external shape” of a poem. How do we utilize that first moment of encounter—when the reader first approaches the page, seeing the poem before they read it—to communicate meaning? In this craft class, we’ll explore the visual decisions that are available to us, from the traditional line and stanza to the poem freed from the left margin, striving toward writing the poem that places meaning and visual form in direct conversation.

NB: This 2-hour 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.

Emily Lee Luan is the author of 回 / Return (April 2023), winner of a 2021 Nightboat Poetry Prize, and I Watch the Boughs, selected by Gabrielle Calvocoressi for a Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship. A former Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, her work has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2021, Best New Poets 2019, American Poetry Review, FENCE, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships and scholarships from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Community of Writers, Fine Arts Work Center, Jentel, Millay Arts, Monson Arts, Lighthouse Works, and Storyknife. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Rutgers University-Newark and lives in Brooklyn.