CRW 5331 Spring 2024
The first hour of class will be devoted to discussing the ode, starting with the Sumerian Priestess Enheduanna (2300 BCE) and ending with odes being written right now, stopping along the way with the Hebrew psalms, the Song of Solomon, Sappho, Pindar, Horace, Pindarmania, the Romantics, Keats, Whitman, Neruda, Ginsberg, Frank O’Hara, Kenneth Koch, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Sharon Olds. The final two hours will be workshop. You DO NOT have to write odes, but witnessing these poets negotiating first with gods and then with their own consciousnesses is poetic in the extreme.
Requirements: For MFA students, this course satisfies 3 of the required 12-15 hours of writing workshops. For PhD students, it counts toward the 27 hours of required coursework.