07-02-2023, 10:07 PM
If we could somehow make the forum known to the folks who teach poetry in MFA programs across the country.....
In the mid 70s I participated in several poetry workshops while getting my English degree. In 1990, while pursuing an MA in Creative Writing, I was allowed to teach a poetry workshop. In both cases, the class consisted of critiques limited to participants in the class. Honest, enlightening comments were few and far between in both experiences.
I've often thought, if I were teaching a poetry workshop today, how useful an awareness of this forum would be. I can think of numerous "outside of class" assignments I could develop using Pig Pen as a resource. That would, I believe, lead to at least some of the serious students to become members on a long term basis.
It may be that poetry workshop teachers in this day and age must be aware of that potential, but then I wonder, are the workshops still taught the same old way?
The trick of course would be how to advertise the forum to those teachers. The only way I can think of would be labor intensive: compiling a list of MFA faculty and emailing them with an invitation to think about using the forum as part of their curriculum.
In the mid 70s I participated in several poetry workshops while getting my English degree. In 1990, while pursuing an MA in Creative Writing, I was allowed to teach a poetry workshop. In both cases, the class consisted of critiques limited to participants in the class. Honest, enlightening comments were few and far between in both experiences.
I've often thought, if I were teaching a poetry workshop today, how useful an awareness of this forum would be. I can think of numerous "outside of class" assignments I could develop using Pig Pen as a resource. That would, I believe, lead to at least some of the serious students to become members on a long term basis.
It may be that poetry workshop teachers in this day and age must be aware of that potential, but then I wonder, are the workshops still taught the same old way?
The trick of course would be how to advertise the forum to those teachers. The only way I can think of would be labor intensive: compiling a list of MFA faculty and emailing them with an invitation to think about using the forum as part of their curriculum.