Poetry West

Laura Stuckey will lead a workshop on the Verse Essay form. The Verse Essay is an expansive form that sits at the intersection of poetry and the essay. Making use of poetic form and meter, it also expands into other areas such as philosophy, social criticism, the arts or politics. It was popularized during the seventeenth century, and used to its fullest potential by Pope and Dryden. It has enjoyed a life beyond that time, however, and seems to be making a minor resurgence now. We will take a look at historic and modern examples of this form, understand the many ways it is a departure from lyric poetry, and discuss how it might inform our own work. If time permits and people would be interested, Laura will open up the discussion to a critique of one of her own narrative poems that she is attempting to expand into a verse essay.