[Online] “City Poetics,” a 10-Week Workshop with nanya jhingran VIRTUAL [Start date: July 10, 2022]

10 sessions: Sundays, July 10-September 11, 10am-noon PT

Online via Zoom

Min: 4

Max: 10

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Cities—what they are, what they can be, who shapes them—are ever-changing and alive with contradictions. As such, they offer us an ideal site for poetic inquiry, inviting us to embrace paradox, ask questions, and attend in heightened detail. How have poets engaged with the cities they know and imagine on the page? How might our experiences in a city inform our poetics? 

In this course, we will lend attention to the many contradictions (personal, historical, social) of “the city” as a place and an idea. Each week we will read samples spanning a century’s worth of creative and critical thought—across music, visual art, film, poetry, literature, philosophy, architecture, geography, and more—including excerpts from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Etel Adnan’s Of Cities and Women, Michel DeCerteau’s Walking in the City, Toni Morrison’s Jazz; poems by Douglas Kearney, Frank O’Hara, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dionne Brand; and visual art by David Wojnarowicz and Anastacia-Reneé. 

Time in class will be spent discussing the readings, generative writing, and workshopping. Each student will have at least two opportunities to workshop original drafts.

Writers of color especially encouraged to register! 

Payment plans are available upon request.

About the Instructor: nanya jhingran is a poet, scholar & teacher from Lucknow, India currently living by the coastal margin of the Salish Sea, on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish People, upon which the city of Seattle was built. She serves as an Associate Editor of Book Reviews at Poetry Northwest. She is also a Ph.D. Candidate in Literature and Culture, an MFA Candidate in Poetry and an instructor of writing at the University of Washington, Seattle. www.nanyajhingran.com

About the Space: The Parlor is a cozy, inspiring room with a large library table, exposed brick, and natural light, attached to Open Books: A Poem Emporium, located at 108 Cherry Street in downtown Seattle. Just a short jaunt from the Pioneer Square Light Rail Station and surrounded by ample street and garage parking, the Parlor offers a haven for private studio time and gatherings of up to 8 people. 

Masks will be required for Open Books classes until further notice. Thank you for understanding!

If you have any questions about this course, or any other class at Open Books, please email classes@openpoetrybooks.com and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.