S143. Poetry in the Program Era

Room 200 B&C, Level 2
Saturday, April 11, 2015
10:30 am to 11:45 am

 

In his 2009 book The Program Era, Mark McGurl reads postwar American fiction by way of its origins in the creative writing classroom. In doing so, he finds that familiar lessons of craft ("show-don't-tell") and originality ("find your voice") can have far-reaching aesthetic consequences. Can the same be said about poetry? This panel will explore how creative writing pedagogy has impacted recent poets, noting how elliptical, formalist, and slam poetries have fared in this new academic era.


Participants

Moderator:

Darin Ciccotelli has published poems in Fence, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Kenyon Review, VOLT, and ZYZZYVA. He received his PhD from the University of Houston, where he was the managing editor of Gulf Coast. He currently teaches at Soka University of America.

 

Jessica Piazza authored two poetry books: Interrobang and This is not a sky. She holds a creative writing PhD from the University of Southern California, is a co-founder of Bat City Review and Gold Line Press, and a contributing editor at the Offending Adam.  

Kent Shaw's first book is Calenture. His poems have appeared in the Believer, Ploughshares, Boston Review, and Witness. He is poetry editor at Better Magazine and is a regular reviewer for the Rumpus. He is currently an assistant professor at West Virginia State University.

Susan B.A. Somers-Willett is the author of two books of poetry, Quiver and Roam (Crab Orchard Award), and a book of criticism, The Cultural Politics of Slam Poetry. A recipient of a Gracie Award, a Writers’ League of Texas Book Award, and a Mellon fellowship, she writes in Austin, Texas.

Glenn Shaheen is the author of the poetry collection Predatory and the flash fiction collection Unchecked Savagery. He is a doctoral candidate at Western Michigan University.

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