Saturdays, April 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2026, 10:00AM - 12:00PM
Meetings will take place in the Poetry Center's Alumni Room, Room 205; limit 12 students. General registration opens on Friday, December 12th at 10:00AM.
This class is a generative writing workshop that will proceed from readings of several of the prominent Beat Poets, including Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Phillip Whalen, Joanne Kyger, Bob Kaufman, and Diane DiPrima. We read to understand how they conceived poetry, its possible methods, and its mission. We include brief meditation periods because the poets were deeply involved with Zen Buddhism, and through mindful contemplation we will come to write. The writing in the class will be new writing, begun after reading and meditation, in ways students may find new to their practice, and compelling for their future. Each class will include time for conversations about what students have created during the class.
All poems we read will be provided by the Instructor. Bring paper and a writing instrument. We anticipate writing students, but the course is also open to artists interested in the Beat movement, who may wish to draw or sketch during the course.