READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007

First of all, please forgive me for forgetting to post assignments for February 13, 2007!

The next important announcement is that we will not be having class on Tuesday, February 20, 2007, as I will be giving a poetry reading that night.

Therefore, at our next class meeting on Tuesday, February 27, 2007, please be prepared with comments on the remainder of the flash fiction assignments for workshopping.

Please also finish reading the prose poem and flash fiction anthologies, and at this point, go ahead and read Oliver de la Paz's collection of interconnected prose poems, Names Above Houses. (This is a gorgeous book! I think you will love it!)

Important!!

On Tuesday, February 27, your next workshop assignment, a Narrative Poem, will be due with 26 workshop copies.

Here are the guidelines:

Please write a narrative poem (i.e., a poem that tells a story of some sort or another). Your poem should be written in standard poem format, meaning that instead of prose, you will write a poem in stanzas, with line breaks. You will want to carefully choose a narrative that fits appropriately within the frame of a poem, and allows itself to be told in poetic language, and without resorting to use of too many standard fiction techniques (such as dialogue, excessive narrative summary, obvious scene setting, or too-lengthy character sketching, etc.) You may find that narrative poems frequently elude to, or hint at, or imply, their narratives vs. simply telling the stories outright.

I have e-mailed these guidelines, along with a selection of narrative poems to consider as models for your assignment, to you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!

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Finally, please, please, please come and show your support for the VLP Poetry Festival on Thursday, February 22, 2007. There will be a fabulous noon reading in Farber Hall featuring Sarah den Boer and Neil Harrison, a fabulous 4:00 p.m. reading in Fabrer Hall with Debra Marquart, and then a super-fabulous VLP slam at 7:00 at the Coffee Shop Gallery with Debra Marquart opening up with a jazz-poetry performance feature, followed by the regular awesomeness that is the VLP monthly slam. There will also be morning and afternoon workshops, a bake sale, and other assorted lovely things for sale! Please come to as many of the (free) readings as you can, and if at all possible, please do sign up for one or both of the workshops with Neil Harrison (morning) and Debra Marquart (afternoon).

Here's a link for additional information, and full schedule:

VLP 2007 Poetry Festival