Revising a poem is not always a linear process–it moves in fits and starts and may stall out temporarily. As we revise, it’s important to keep reading new work and writing new poems, so we can return to the older poem with new eyes. In this eight-week, online course, participants will workshop their poems, read across a broad spectrum of poetry, and write in response to poetry prompts. In particular, the readings will focus on the visual elements of poetry: how the poem’s appearance on the page influences its impact on the reader. We’ll examine how line break and spacing can change a poem’s pacing, as well as looking at some contemporary collage, erasure, and concrete poems. This class is for intermediate-advanced students who have taken at least three poetry classes at a literary education center.
Aran Donovan is Assistant Director for the Virginia Center for the Book, where she works with both the Festival of the Book and Book Arts. She holds an MFA in Poetry and Translation from the University of Arkansas and an MA in Italian from Middlebury Summer Language Schools. She has attended residencies at the Edward A. Albee Foundation, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Her work has appeared in Best New Poets 2013, Rattle, New Orleans Review, The Common, Willow Springs, and Juked. She has lived in Italy, France, New Mexico, and New Orleans, but Virginia is starting to feel like home.