We speak of the heart of the matter, of having butterflies in our stomach, of someone being the backbone of their community, of hitting a raw nerve— In our daily speech and across a variety of disciplines including poetry, there is widespread use of metaphors grounded in or pertaining to the body. In recent years, narrative medicine has emerged as a practice at the intersection of the humanities, the literary arts, clinical practice, and health care. Crucial in these is the recognition that the body is central not only to our experiences of healing, but more broadly to that of living in, reading, dreaming, giving language to, imagining, and writing the world.
This poetry workshop aims to generate excitement, discovery, and the creation of original work (as well as expansion/revision of work in progress). We’ll talk about how the human body is depicted and imagined in a curated selection of exemplary poems. We’ll look at how poets employ strategies for writing strong and memorable metaphors of the body—among them Walt Whitman, May Swenson, Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds, Gregory Orr, Ross Gay, Chen Chen, and more.

Please note: This class or event is hybrid. Some attendees will be in-person and some will attend online. There may be a limited number of in-person seats available. If you are participating online (using Zoom or a similar live platform), students or attendees should have a stable internet connection. Class participants: you should have a computer or device with a webcam and microphone; and your Zoom link will be automatically sent to you after you register. Check your spam box if you don't see it.