Lavish Syntax: A Master Class with Rick Barot

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | The problem at the heart of writing a poem is the problem of dramatization. That is, how do we dramatize in language—an arguably limited means—the dynamics of thought, sensation, mystery, knowledge, and unsayability that often comprise human experience? In this class, we'll discuss the crucial importance of syntax in vitalizing a poem. We’ll look at poems with powerful content and the syntactical correlatives the poets use in dramatizing that content. The poems will include the work of Patricia Smith, Louise Glück, Sharon Olds, Arthur Sze, and others.

Rick Barot was born in the Philippines and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is the author of four books of poetry: The Galleons (Milkweed Editions, 2020), which was longlisted for the National Book Award; Chord (Sarabande Books, 2015), winner of the 2016 UNT Rilke Prize, the PEN Open Book Award, and the Publishing Triangle’s Thom Gunn Award; Want (Sarabande, 2008), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards; and The Darker Fall (Sarabande, 2002).

The recipient of NEA and Guggenheim fellowships, and until recently the poetry editor of New England Review, Barot is a professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he is the director of the Rainier Writing Workshop low-residency MFA program.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://bennington.zoom.us/j/94670972395

Meeting ID: 946 7097 2395

Visit Rick Barot's Website.