Instructor: Shin Yu Pai

HUAS 6350.501, Class Cap: 15

Tuesdays, 7-10 p.m.
SOM 2.802
Office: TBD
Office Hours: By Appointment Only
email: ShinYu.Pai@gmail.com

Graduate Poetry Workshop

Course Description: The Graduate Poetry Workshop is an informal seminar class,

focusing on discussion and workshop production. The prerequisite for this course is at
least 3 hours of graduate level creative writing and assumes that students enrolled have
had some experience in the writing of poetry. Brief lectures and discussions on poetic
craft will take place, but these will not be the primary content of the course. Additional
focus will be on individual style and experimentation. Readings will be drawn from a list
of texts available in the school bookstore and supplemented by occasional essays and
handouts on poetics provided by the instructor. Students are also encouraged to bring in,
at will, any poems or ideas they’d like to share and discuss with the class. Some time
will also be spent looking at professional practices, including publications and
presentation.

Generally speaking, the content of the course consists of: 1) in-class critiques (close
readings and discussion by peers of student writing 2) weekly writing assignments
3) independent readings (informally annotated and entered into journals), and 4) oral
presentations.

These books are on reserve for this class:

The Dream of the Audience – Theresa Cha/Constance Lewallen
Cuts – Carl Andre
Autumn Grasses – Margaret Gibson
Red as a Lotus – Lisa Gill
Dictee – Theresa Cha
Bellocq’s Ophelia – Natasha Trethewey
The Lightning Field – Carol Moldaw
The Redshifting Web – Arthur Sze
A Humument – Tom Phillips
REQUIREMENTS:
Workshop: Each week we will discuss the work of 2-3 students (this may vary
depending on # enrolled). We will workshop 5-15 pages of your work at a time. Your
work will be the focus of no less than two 45 minute long workshops during the semester.
You may also be assigned to facilitate a discussion on another student’s work during the
course of the semester.

All poems meant for workshopping must be typed and legible, with the student’s name
appearing in the upper right hand corner. Please make sure the print is not too light.
Students are responsible for providing copies, at their own expense, of their own poems
for workshop the week before discussion is scheduled to occur.

Journals: Students will be required to post weekly literary entries (2 paragraphs to a

page in length) in a notebook or journal kept for the purpose of writing comments on
books read and assigned readings. These entries should examine the books read from a
stylistic and technical point of view rather than form a purely appreciative (“I like this”,
“I didn’t like this…”) and superficial perspective. I encourage you to respond by doing
some sort of process oriented take on the author’s approach which will help you
deconstruct what he/she is doing. The journal should also serve as a sketchbook for the
writer’s process, a space where drafts are developed and ideas are worked out. Journals
will be collected at the mid-term and at the end of the semester. Journals should be
typed.

Author Presentations: During the course of the semester, each student will be required
to prepare a 20–30 minute presentation on an author of their own choosing. Student will
provide examples/handouts of work and be prepared to lead a conversation about their
chosen author’s body of work, whether examining an individual title, or multiple works
by that individual.

Final Project: Due on the 2nd to last class meeting on November 22. Ten to thirty pages
of creative writing. Provide a prefatory note of 1-2 pages discussing your process and the
critique you are seeking for this body of work.

Poetry Readings: Students are asked to attend at least two poetry reading during the
semester and to write a short report on this event in your journals. Suggested event
venues include the Writer’s Garret, WordSpace, The Dallas Museum of Art (Friday
literary café series), SMU Gilbert Lecture Series, etc).

At the end of the semester, the instructor will organize an off-campus opportunity for
students to present their work in a public venue such as Paperbacks Plus or Barnes &
Noble. All students are required to participate in this event.

Evaluation: Grades will be based upon the following criteria:

1) quality and quantity of creative work submitted
2) quality of journals
3) quality of final project
4) completion of weekly assignments
5) overall attendance and contribution to class discussions

Each student is required to meet with me in conference once during the semester so
that I can offer feedback and assistance with individual areas of interest. Student
conferences will be scheduled at the mid-term, during the week of October 18th.
During this week Workshop will not meet.

Students will be allowed ONE unexcused absence and are expected to be on time and
prepared for each session. All absences beyond your free unexcused absence must be
accounted for with notes of excuse. Missed workshops cannot be made up; therefore,
unexcused absences will result in grade penalties and even failure of the class. If a
student needs to miss class on a day when his/her poems are due to be passed out, it is the
student’s responsibility to email or circulate this work to the instructor and the class in
preparation for the following week’s workshop. This should be done no later than the
Monday before class reconvenes. If this is not possible, the student may arrange to switch
workshop dates with a classmate who will submit work for circulation. Any switches
must be negotiated between students. The instructor and the class should be informed of
any and all changes to the schedule.

Students will be expected to complete all assigned work on time. They will be asked to
provide written critique of peer work in addition to providing oral feedback. Verbal
critiques should be succinct and to the point, dealing with the specific content of poems
and focusing on elements of craft. Personalities and predispositions should be excluded.
Participation is part of the evaluation element of the course, and failure to engage in
verbal critiques will not aid an individual student’s grade. Students will also be required
to read assigned work from the text and to be able to discuss it on the assigned date.

Late or incomplete work is not acceptable; incompletes will not be given for this course.
All installments of work must be completed and distributed according to the dated
assignments or grade penalty will result. Failure to provide sufficient copies for
distribution constitutes incomplete and/or late work. Work that is not distributed at the
assigned time may not be discussed or critiqued.

Disability Accommodations: If you need academic accommodations for a disability, you must
contact the Office of Student Services to verify the disability and establish eligibility for
accommodations. Then you should schedule an appointment with the professor to make
appropriate arrangements.

Cheating, plagiarism, and dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course. Unless
prior permission is obtained, students should not turn in work for this course that was created, all
or in part, in conjunction with another course.

A detailed calendar will be provided by the 2nd class meeting.

Calendar:

August
23: Introduction; Orientation; Paperwork

30: Serial Poems/Structures

September
6: Found Forms and Hybrids

13: Poetic Manifestos

20: Economics

27: Translation/Transmutation

October
4: Revision

11: New Media; Writing online; (Journals due for Mid-term evaluation)

18: No Class Meeting; 1-1 Conferences; Field work

25: The Altered Book/Text

November
1: Text off the page

8: Collaboration

15: Book Arts; trip to Bridwell Library (class moved to 8:30-10:30 a.m.)

22: Publication & Professional Practices; Journals Due

29: Final Project Due/Public presentation of work (venue TBD)

include SASE if you want your project returned to you