Class

Generative Poetry Class: The Poetry of the Garden Winter Edition

The word "anthology" (anthos + -logia) comes from the Greek for "flower collection," so it's fair to say that the collecting and arranging of poems and flowers are sister arts.

In this generative session, we’ll draw inspiration from the history and literature of gardens to inspire new poems. We will look at garden poems by Ben Jonson, Andrew Marvell, Louis Zukofsky, Elizabeth Bishop, Jericho Brown, Aimee Nezhukumatitil, Ross Gay, and Rick Barot, to talk about the unique cultural history of the garden in English-language poetry, including the political and colonial history of gardens, the influence of idealized gardens like Eden and Arcadia, and flora native to Minnesota gardens.

Together, we will respond to specific prompts and share with the group as much as participants wish. Writers can expect to come away from the session with the a few new drafts and ideas to cultivate.

This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book; we encourage participants to be fully vaccinated and masked in the interest of everyone’s safety. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.