The Poetics of a People

Workshops are conducted EST via Zoom, a virtual platform that allows you to participate in exercises and contribute to group conversation. To participate, please register by the deadline using the ticket portal below, or go to Scholarships. Zoom links are emailed to registered participants as follows:

• Morning and Noon Workshops: Link is sent on the day/evening before the class starts.
• Afternoon Workshops: Link is sent one hour before the workshop starts.
• Evening Workshops: Link is sent on the evening of the workshop between 5:15 pm and one hour before the workshop starts.

Member Price: $65
Deadline to Register: October 30, 5 pm
Instructor: Robert Gibbons

We will begin with a close reading of the poetry and poetics of resistance. Participants will respond to the works of African-Americans reflecting imperatives of the Black experience, including poetic voices of the forerunner and the revolution: The Griot, Phillis Wheatley, Lucy Terry, Frances E. W. Harper, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Selected works from the Harlem Renaissance, Post Renaissance, the 40’s 50’s and 60’s, and the contemporary African-American canon will also be considered. Participants will be introduced to poetic terminology, poetic analysis, response etiquette, and generating summaries. If time permits, they will be asked to read scholarly critique and draft their own poems and responses.

Robert Gibbons is the author of Close to the Tree ( Three Rooms Press,2012) and Flight (Poets Wear Prada, 2019). A Literature Professor at the City College of New York, he is a Cave Canem Fellow and has received residencies from the Norman Mailer Foundation and the DISQUIET International Literary Program . His work has been published in over 30 literary magazines and in several notable anthologies. Recent publication credits include Expound, Promethean, Turtle Island Quarterly, Killer Whale, and Suison Valley Review. He lives in Brooklyn and is active in the New York poetry scene.

Scholarships Available