2024 Summer Workshops
From fish in the sea to birds in the air and all living things in between, the world of the wild has always been a source of poetic inspiration. The wild can also include domesticated animals of all sorts, as well as insects, reptiles, amphibians, trees, grasses, and flowers. And no doubt there is a streak of wildness in us humans too. Hovering in the background of everything wild is the ecological crisis of our time, and its enormous implications for all of life. We will examine a number of relevant and instructive poems by others, but at the center of our meetings will be the discussion of your own work. On the first day, everyone should bring a poem that somehow relates to “the call of the wild.” Then for each meeting the rest of our week, I’d like you to generate a new poem or revise an older one. Our goal by the end of our workshop would be to add five new or revised poems to your repertoire.
Biography
Fred Marchant is the author of five books of poetry, the most recent of which is Said Not Said (Graywolf Press, 2017). Earlier books include Full Moon Boat, The Looking House, Tipping Point, and House on Water, House in Air. Marchant has co-translated work by several Vietnamese poets, and edited Another World Instead: The Early Poems of William Stafford. An emeritus professor of English, he is founding director of the Suffolk University Poetry Center in Boston.