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PAUL E NELSON

Poetics as Cosmology Workshop (Week 1)

How is a stance toward writing poetry a model for living one’s life? How can the act of writing spontaneously deepen one’s intuition/guidance/connection to one’s more noble self? In six weeks we’ll investigate several post WWII stances toward spontaneous composition, read essays, poems, engage in writing exercises, discussion and have related outside-of-class activities suggested to deepen one’s relation to this stance.

Ideally participants would read materials in advance of the regular session and come ready to discuss.

Week One, October 3-4, 2020

Recommended essays:

Organic Poetry

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69393/the-poem-as-a-field-of-action

Projective Verse (Charles Olson, 1950)

Some Notes on Organic Form (Denise Levertov, 1965)

Writing exercise: https://paulenelson.com/workshops/tribe-exercise/

Homework to be done AFTER week one and BEFORE week two:

Write down sixteen words that relate to your own personal mythology that are SIGHT-oriented. Do not use abstractions and use the most specific term. Instead of FLOWER, perhaps it’s HOLLYHOCK. Do make this exercise a meditation.

Take yourself on an ARTIST’S DATE, going solo, to a cultural event (if possible) or watch an art film or live JAZZ CONCERT online (the Villagevanguard.com is streaming) OR go to do a health experience you have never done, or have not done in a while, such as Community Acupuncture, Massage, Reiki, or go to a Tarot Card reader, psychic, something of that nature. You can write a poem about the experience if so inclined.

For week two, bring 9 postcard poems, or 9 poems of about sonnet length.