(Spring20) Noepe Visiting Workshop:Shira Erlichman Poetry in Love with the Ordinary

*ONLINE COURSE - NEW DATES* (Formerly April 18 & 19)
​5-Week Online Workshop with Shira Erlichman
Poetry in Love with the Ordinary
Days: Thursdays
Dates: May 14 - June 11
Time: 4:30-6:00PM
Location: online via Zoom
Fee: $250
This class will meet via Zoom on Thursdays from 4:30-6:00PM from May 14 - June 11. 

A trope of poetry is that we poets must be transcendentally wise, ascending the mountain to shout our discoveries down at our listeners (all while in front of a blazing sunset, of course.) But what if our simple, complex lives are enough? In his poem “Ode with Interruptions,” Rick Barot writes, “I used to think that to write poems, to make art, / meant trying to transcend the prosaic elements / of the self, to arrive at some essential plane, where / poems were supposed to succeed. I was wrong.” In this workshop, instead of ascending some dramatic mountain, we’ll dive into the ordinary objects, concerns and characters of our everyday lives. Guided by Ross Gay, Marie Howe, Aracelis Girmay and Jean Valentine (among others), we’ll use forms such as the ode, ghazal and the epistolary poem to unfold the tremendous wisdom and presence available nowhere else but here—with the coffee cup, the bills, the rain—right here, wherever we are, right now.
 
Shira Erlichman is an author, visual artist, and musician. She recently released her debut poetry book Odes to Lithium and children's book Be/Hold. She's received fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, Millay Residency, and AIR Serenbe. Her work has been featured in The Rumpus, PBS NewsHour's Poetry Series, The Huffington Post, The Seattle Times, and The New York Times, among others. Learn more at www.shiraerlichman.com.

“Through her nonlinear narrative of hospitalization, treatment and everyday life, Erlichman turns a confessional self-portrait of crisis into a chemical, chimerical joyride toward self-acceptance" - The New York Times
More reviews: www.officialshira.com/books