(ONB 105) How to Read a Poem

  • Jeet Thayyil 

    Jeet Thayil,
    Lecturer, Asian American Writer’s Workshop (New York);
    Visiting Lecturer, CEPT(Ahmedabad).
    Register online
    Course TitleHow to Read a Poem: with attention to the formal elements of composition, in particular, scansion, metrics, rhyme, rhythm, line length and line break, fixed forms, invented forms, the breath, and the shape the poem makes on the page.Course InstructorJeet Thayil, Lecturer, Asian American Writer’s Workshop (New York); Visiting Lecturer, CEPT(Ahmedabad).

    Objective: To understand the formal life of the poem from a close reading of contemporary American and Indian poets. For the interested beginner and the advanced practitioner.

    Course Pre-requisites: A wide interest in the history and practice of poetry.

    Who can register: Lectures and performances are open to any University of Goa student. Interested members of the public are also welcome.

    This course is designed for persons interested in deepening their understanding of poetry. Only 12 participants are eligible to apply for the 1 Credit, 15 hour Course. Workshops (19TH, 20TH & 21ST August) are restricted to twelve students only. These are expected to be persons who are seriously interested in learning to write poetry. All others are welcome to attend lectures on poetry for the first 8 hours, and are eligible for a Participation Certificate. There is no restriction on the number of those who wish to attend the first 8 hour classes. There will be a final Performance session open to all.

    Those who wish to register for the full 15 hour course (lectures 8 hours + workshops 6 hours) are required to submit at least one of their own original poems, on the basis of which they will be selected to the full 1 credit course.

    All others are welcome to register and attend lectures on poetry for the first 8 hours, and are eligible for a Participation Certificate. There is no restriction on the number of those who wish to attend the first 8 hour classes. There will be a final Performance Saturday 24th August (11 am to 1 pm) session open to all.

    The course, of fifteen hours duration, will run from August 12 to August 31, 2013. It has a value of one credit.

    Session number

    (Lectures,2 hours each; Workshops, 2 hours each; Performance,1 hour)

    Session title Recommended Readings
    1. 12th August3 to 5pm A reading of Twentieth Century American poetry Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, John Berryman, Theodore Roethke, Hart Crane, William Carlos Williams, Robert Creeley, Richard Hugo
    2. 13th August3 to 5 pm A reading of Twentieth Century American poetry Ezra Pound, Robert Frost, Anne Sexton, Jack Gilbert, Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, James Wright, Ted Berrigan
    3.  14th August3 to 5 pm A reading of Twentieth Century Indian poetry Dom Moraes, Nissim Ezekiel, Arun Kolatkar, Gopal Honnalgere, Srinivas Rayaprol, Lawrence Bantleman, G S Sharat Chandra, A K Ramanujan, Agha Shahid Ali
    4.  16th August3 to 5 pm A reading of Twentieth Century Indian poetry Eunice de Souza, Melanie Silgardo, Manohar Shetty, Vijay Nambisan, Vikram Seth, Adil Jussawalla, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra
    5.  19th August3 to 5 pm Poetry workshop Close reading of individual poems by participants
    6. 20th August3 to 5 pm Poetry workshop Close reading of individual poems by participants
    7. 21st August3 to 5 pm Poetry workshop Close reading of individual poems by participants
    8.  22nd August4 to 5pm (One hour) All Poetry is Performance; with Q & A  
    Assessment Details will be indicated at the beginning of the ocurseADDITIONAL SESSIONS – OPEN TO ALL:

    Saturday, 10th August – Session with Santiago L. (Discussion on Poetry and Music)   11 a.m.

    Saturday 17th August  (Session at Literati (Calangute) with Suniti Namjoshi)

    Saturday 24th August (11 am to 1 pm) Joint Reading and Discussion Session with Ashok Vajpeyi and Manohar Shetty)