The Art of Syntax: Poetry with Kim Addonizio (via Zoom)

“The first step toward mastery is recognition,” writes Ellen Bryant Voigt in The Art of Syntax. Do you recognize the patterns in your own work? In the work of other poets you admire? Poetry, of course, is all about patterning—and syntax, how we pattern our sentences, is one of the most powerful tools we have available. In this workshop, we’ll study the examples of poets from Whitman to a range of contemporary writers to see how they create both music and meaning, tension and relief, through the kinds of sentences they write. We’ll look at how syntax interacts with the line break, and the effects that dance produces. And we’ll do some guided exercises that will help you break out of the simple declarative pattern too many poems follow. Take this workshop and get familiar with a range of alternatives, from the periodic sentence to parallel structure and a few other patterns you’ll soon recognize, and be able to write, on your way to mastery.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom (Saturday, August 10, 12:30-2:30 PM ET) 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 misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

All HVWC scholarship applications will be available on May 1 and will be due on May 15 for all summer/fall 2024 classes.

Kim Addonizio’s latest poetry collection is Now We’re Getting Somewhere (W.W. Norton, 2021). She is the author of seven other poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry, The Poet’s Companion (with Dorianne Laux, W.W. Norton, 1997) and Ordinary Genius (W.W. Norton, 2009), as well as a memoir, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life (Penguin Books, 2016). Her awards include fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation and her collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. Exit Opera is forthcoming from W.W. Norton in September 2024. She lives in Oakland, CA and teaches poetry workshops on Zoom. https://www.kimaddonizio.com