Shadow Form: A Masterclass for Poets with David Baker

How could poets use traditional forms to write “free verse” poems? We’ll look at a range of classic and contemporary poetry to consider ways by which you might employ aspects of a formal poem—from its outer structures to inner rhetoric—to craft a new poem not “in” that form but ghosting or shadowing that form. It’s one thing to recognize a pantoum; but is it possible—is it fruitful—to employ technical structures of a pantoum to provide a partial or hidden form, rather than a complete template, for your new poem? That is, can you use the ghosts of earlier forms to write new poems? I’ll provide a range of poems for us to read and discuss, and together we’ll explore ways to create prompts and opportunities for your new work.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom and will be capped at 20 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to…