ENGL 070M. Poetry Workshop: Poems of Protest and Resistance

Solmaz Sharif contends, “Every poem is an action. Every action is political. Every poem is political.” In this intermediate workshop, we will unpack poetic strategies across a diverse group of politically-charged poems. Through class discussion, we’ll consider the following questions: what makes a poem “political”? What craft elements support a poem’s capacity to effectively engage us in politicized material? How does an interplay between the personal and the political affect a poem’s impact? What strategies can we apply to help us tackle personal and politicized topics of our own?

Together, we’ll investigate how diction, syntax, sensory description, and other craft elements work together to give shape to politicized material and to create reader engagement.

With a primary (but not exclusive) focus on poems by BIPOC writers, our reading list will include poets such as Ilya Kaminsky, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, Layli Long Soldier, Solmaz Sharif, Claudia Rankine, Chen Chen, Harryette Mullen, Craig Santos Perez, Evie Shockley, Danez Smith, and others.

During the workshop, students will experiment with weekly prompts and provide peer feedback on draft poems. Using class examples, we’ll consider how to flesh out the social, cultural, and historical contexts of our poems in ways that bring greater depth and meaning to our work. Previous workshop experience required. Attendance at readings required. Limited to 12 students.
CR/NC
Prerequisite: 1 previous workshop (ENGL 070A, 070E, 070G, or 070J, or similar workshop elsewhere.) Admission and credit determined by instructor.
Humanities
1 credit.
Spring 2025. Ahmed.
Catalog chapter: English Literature
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/english-literature

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