Exploring Oulipo Poetry

If you are a poet who likes to experiment and try new ideas, I invite you to meet the Oulipo poets and their techniques. An avant-garde poetry group founded in the 1960s, the Oulipo poets sought to develop new structures and patterns which could be used by writers in any way they wanted. Oulipo poetry uses constraints as a means of triggering ideas and inspiration. In this course we will learn a little bit about the history and philosophy of the Oulipos, but mostly will experiment with their techniques and discuss the poems the constraints produce. We will also use their philosophy to create our own new structures and patterns. This workshop is about playing with puzzles and writing new poetry. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginning poet or a multiply published poet, Oulipo poetry has something to offer everyone. Think of it as Writing Aerobics with a French accent.