Strange Maimed Oranges: Writing Rhyme in Contemporary Poetry with Jane Huffman (Via Zoom)

Rhyme is a part of nature. It is in our breathing and heart-beating bodies, in our acoustic and psychological awareness, our memories, our interactions with patterns and pattern-breaking. Per poet and scholar Susan Stewart, “The urge to rhyme seems to come from somewhere else, from some outside that may be deeply inside, in the sense that it is unconscious, or perhaps simply compulsive.” With the rise and popularity of free verse, rhyme is sometimes overlooked as an essential craft tool for the contemporary writer, but it offers myriad possibilities for deeper engagement with language, form, and content. In this class, we will discuss strategies of incorporating rhyme (full, partial, “hammer,” and “slant” varieties) into poetry of all forms, as well as discuss rhyme’s siblings: rhythm, meter, alliteration, and assonance. In a seminar-style, discussion-based setting, students will study a range of poets and diverse applications of rhyme. They will have a chance to write in class to practice their new skills (with prompts provided by the instructor), and if they wish, share new writing with their peers.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom (Sunday, August 11, 12:30-4:30 PM ET) and will be capped at 20 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 misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

Jane Huffman is a doctoral student in English and Literary Arts at the University of Denver. Before that, she earned an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and taught undergraduate writing at the University of Iowa for seven years. Her debut collection of poetry, Public Abstract, won the 2023 Honickman/APR First Book Prize, and her poetry has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, American Poetry Review, Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. She was a 2019 recipient of the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation.