2 Sessions: Sundays, August 3 + 10
12:00-2:00pm ET
Jenny Johnson

Jenny Johnson is the author of In Full Velvet (Sarabande Books, 2017). Her poems and essays have appeared in American Poetry Review, BOMB Magazine, and The New York Times. Her honors include a Whiting Award, a Hodder Fellowship, and a NEA Fellowship. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at West Virginia University, and she is on the faculty of the Rainier Writing Workshop.

Writing poems (or lyrical prose) that is sound-driven can allow us a way into writing about that which feels hard to say or express. In this class, we will consider how sound effects meaning in poems by Ross Gay, Jennifer Chang, John Keene, Maggie Millner, and others, attending to what Robert Pinsky calls a poem’s “audible web.” We will consider the effects of specific vowels and consonants on a poem's soundscape, as well as strategies for using rhyme as an embodied element in your poems. You will also have a chance to experiment with sound in a few writing exercises, letting sound be your guide as you explore a subject matter that you’re struggling to tackle. We'll be taking cues from poets, but writers of all genres are welcome.

Workshop Highlights:

• Observe the effects of sound and rhyme in model poems

• Explore a difficult subject allowing sound to govern

• Experiment with rhyme as an embodied element

This class has 1 full and 1 partial scholarship available. To apply, please fill out this form by Sunday, July 27.