My Ideal Class Alison Hess

I believe that every writer’s style can basically be described as a mosaic, consisting of fragments of childhood memories, a string of English teachers, and most notably, scraps of stanzas from each poem they have ever read. Shards of glass, seemingly random and rather insignificant, compromise the mosaic of every great writer. And so, you see, the great Muses of literature, are not dying, they are multiplying. I would design my course to take advantage of the works of all great writers, as I consider each one a Muse themselves.

In my three-and-a-half-week course, I would aim to investigate the notion and importance of poetic style and use the voices of other poets as inspiration to critique and perfect my own poetry.

The first day would be spent researching the concept of poetic style and voice, its importance and implications, noting how each poet developed their own voice and its influences on his/her success. I would also write a poem of my own, not about anything in particular, but something I feel truly sounds like me.

After that, I would spend each day focusing on a different poet, each successful in their own ways. I would select poets from all periods and genres: the baroque era, beat poets, Greek lovers, pretentious...