Hugo House Eastside Course at Park Place Books, Jan 23 – Feb 26, 2007

Organic Poetry Course Outline

Week VI: Integration.

1)      Thoughts after week four.

2)      Madlib VI

3)      Writing Exercise One – The Waldman Portrait Duet.

a)      People pair off in the group. The sit with your partner and “sketch” each other with words, making a detailed description of the person’s physicality (including appearance) and what associations arise as well. Then start talking and “interviewing” each other with profound questions; What is your greatest fear? How do you see yourself dying? How would you like to be remembered? Things of that kind. Keep writing as you are both talking. Notice “how” things are being said. Then sit in silence and review your writing. Shape it, edit it, expand it, or not. Person one gets ten minutes to interview person two, then switch and then you each get ten minutes to write and title a poem about the other person with the realization this may be the last poem written about this person and may be read at their wake.

4)      Writing Exercise Two – Write Your Biography for your Memorial Service.

b)      What should people know about you, how you spent your life, what you did with that precious gift of energy that will never again come back in quite the same way? What were your accomplishments? Who did you love? What will folks remember about you? (Ten minutes.)

5)      Group discussion of potential daily writing practices. Potential multi-decade writing project. Each person speaks for 4-5 minutes.

6)      Writing Exercise Three. American Sentences. Paul reads a selection of American Sentences and each person gets 7 minutes to write one or two.

7)      Writing Exercise Four – Evaluation Corpse. Start a poem with a line from an image, or moment you remember from the class. Something with energy. Continue the thought onto the next line leaving the person to your left with a word or two short ones to continue the thread. Try to limit your words to perceptions from the class, or associations you get from something that happened in the past six weeks.

8)      Thank Park Place Books. (Buy a book.)

9)      Remember Tuesday, March 6, 6:30PM at the Hugo House for student reading. March 27 teacher reading.

10)  Reconvene at the sushi bar ‘til they kick us out. Robin may discuss her plans for a reunion in early April at her Redmond home.