In this four-week online workshop, we'll practice poetic forms that make significant use of repetition: the villanelle, the ghazal, the pantoum, and the sestina. Beginning with the historical context for each form and a survey of modern and contemporary examples, we'll write, share, and discuss our own attempts at satisfying these demanding patterns.
Blues forms, the triolet, the gigan, and the bop will provide us with a wider and wilder territory. As the workshop progresses, we'll build a set of guidelines for experimentation so that each student can create his or her own form modeled on one of the forms we've explored.
