English 143B

Book List

Padgett, Ron, ed.: The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms; Pinsky, Robert: The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide

Other Readings and Media

Course reader

Description

Soundings:  A Poetry Workshop

"How you sound??" the poet Amiri Baraka asked. This workshop is designed to be an exploration of "voice" through poetic form, music, kitchen appliances, rush hour traffic, and the natural world. Our lens for cultivating "deep listening" is wide and may consist of touchstones by poets John Taggart, Gertrude Stein, Theodore Roethke, Lucille Clifton, and N. H. Pritchard as well as musicians John Cage, Alice Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, and Sun Ra. There will be assigned readings and class discussion of craft and form, but expect to focus primarily on your own poetry's "soundscapes" throughout the semester.

Only continuing UC Berkeley students are eligible to apply for this course. To be considered for admission, please electronically submit 5 of your poems, by clicking on the link below; fill out the application you'll find there and attach the writing sample as a Word document or .rtf file. The deadline for completing this application process is 11 PM, THURSDAY, APRIL 27.

Also be sure to read the paragraph concerning creative writing courses on page 1 of the instructions area of this Announcement of Classes for further information regarding enrollment in such courses.