For Tuesday, February 1 (plus added note)

Added on Jan. 30.

Remember, by the 8th I want you to have read Nancy
Botkin's book, Parts That Were Once Whole (I'm hoping
it is available in the book store. Yes? No?).

Less lyric than Louise, Nancy's poems are
narrative but with occasional associative
leaps thrown in, some fracture. They are more
directly ABOUT the world, a time a place
(The Midwest in the 60s, 70s, 80s etc).
Nancy's forms (the forms evident in the poems)
are part of her strategy, one strategy per poem,
at giving us a believable WHOLE (in parts--get it?).
Therefore, her work is a bit more similar to
the work of Ashley Capps--quite various in her
particular approaches . . . Nancy will come
to our class on Feb. 15.



First, we will look at the "selections" of poems in this
order (and further, the ones listed will probably be the
only ones discussed THIS COMING Tuesday. In fact,
we'll get to, oh, four of these? Perhaps more. We'll see).

1. Jeff Tatay's "Sub-Ethereal" poems
2. Meghan Coughlin's five poems (interesting forms/titles)
3. Nicole Koroch's "Things We Believe" (that feels
__like a good title for the impending "book" . . .
4. Lee's The Willows, and Other Poems
5. The single poem "Some Honk for You Onion" after Ruth Stone
6. Hannah Stowe's power milk Listening Turn Tightrope Smoke
__Movie

Talk about these groups of poems in terms of context, and
whether or not the selection is seamless. What kind of persona
is emerging. What makes you want to read on? Is this a lyric
poet or a narrative poet? Are the titles working? Compare to
the manuscripts from the contest . . .

In the FAT ANTHOLOGY read all the poems by Sharon Olds,
Louise Gluck, AI, Jessica Hagedorn . . .

We will spend the first hour looking at contest manuscripts,
which I will hand out. You will read each, make some notes, and
pass it to your right.

Any questions on Downsides?