ENGL4577.01 Fall 2026 Writing Workshop: Poetry

header: poet Elizabeth Willis

The course will provide an introduction to poetry writing as a discipline and craft by encouraging students to practice writing in a variety of modes. Students’ own poems, from both open and directed writing assignments, will become the main text for this workshop, in addition to some models provided by the instructor for discussion of prosody and technique. The workshop critiques will focus on strategies for revising early drafts, and a chapbook of finished poems will be due from each student at the end of the semester. No application process.

This version of Writing Workshop: Poetry emphasizes analytical reading of poetry as a powerful stimulant to creative production. The good writer is, first of all, a good reader whose writing responds to the contemporary literary landscape and to the inheritance of literary history.

Click here for the syllabus.

All assigned readings not found in required course texts and not provided with an external link on the syllabus can be found by clicking Files to the left of your screen.