There are probably as many approaches to the subject of family as there are poets and poems. In one famous piece, Lucille Clifton recalls a vivid childhood memory of her mother. Li Young-Lee movingly describes a meal after the death of the family patriarch. Sharon Olds contemplates an image of her parents in the years before she was born. What part of your own family’s story are you inspired to explore in a poem? In this two-part seminar we’ll discuss a range of poems on families written by other poets. We’ll also look at work done by members of the class in response to this complex and essential theme.
June 19 & 26, 6-8 PM
Instructor: Margaret Mackinnon