Poetry Workshop

Writing Prose Poetry & Ekphrastic Verse

What makes a poem a prose poem? A simple definition is its lack of line breaks. But the form further straddles the line between poetry and prose by borrowing techniques and effects from both: among them, compression, stream-of-consciousness, narrative, surrealism, and a dream-like feeling.

In this course, we?ll begin by exploring the prose poem through the haibun (a traditional Japanese form that combines prose with haiku), followed by our writing prose poems in free verse.

In the second half of the course, we?ll turn our attention to exploring ekphrastic poetry, or poetry that responds to a single work of art, such as a painting, a sculpture, a photograph or a song.

This eight-week course is open to all levels of experience, ranging from beginner to advanced. Classes will be held on Monday evenings, from 6-8 p.m., Oct. 7-Nov. 25.