What I didn't learn in Graduate School
I'm currently reading, Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre, and Elsewhere. take a look: http://www.amazon.com/Portraits-Talking-Artists-Elsewhere-Paperbacks/dp/0375754830/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297275964&sr=1-1
And while reading, I realized that as a poet, I'm lacking in my poetry education. I came to this realization while reading about how these artists go to art museums to view, and learn from the Masters. These Masters are mostly painters. And I found myself being jealous that these artists could just go to a museum and learn just by viewing and just by going to one place. And I also realized that I have never studied the masters of poetry. yup! I went to graduate school and have never studied the masters. In fact, I'm not even sure who the Masters of poetry are. Granted I could throw out some names, like, Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Whitman, Dickinson, but who else? Does Homer count? Shakespeare? And not just the masters of poetry but the movements of poetry which are linked to art. Why aren't there any Poetry History classes in graduate programs, specifically, MFA's? It's really quite frustrating.
So if I ran a graduate program for poets, I would teach poetry history, which would be very similar to art history but would of course look at the different genres (styles) of poetry. Then I would teach a masters class, where I would assign a poem from a master poet each week. The students would have to read that poem everyday, memorize it, think about it, analyze it and write about it in a writing journal. Then as a project that would be due at the end of the semester, they would get to pick a poet from a list that I would provide. This list would consist of only master poets. They would need to read as much poetry from this poet as possible, also they would need to read a bio and criticism. I want them to know this poet like the back of their hand. They would need to provide sources and produce a journal. The journal would consist of them writing about the poet they chose. And as a final they would do a presentation on the poet. Not sure how long this presentation would be, it would depend on how big the class was.
Also if I had the money etc. I would creat a place, maybe a cafe, where poets could go and hang out with the Masters of poetry. Meaning, the place would be lined with bookshelves with just poetry books. Granted I would also include current (modern) poets as well. They could take these books off the shelf and read while sipping their tea. Wouldn't this make a great cafe in IA City?
And while reading, I realized that as a poet, I'm lacking in my poetry education. I came to this realization while reading about how these artists go to art museums to view, and learn from the Masters. These Masters are mostly painters. And I found myself being jealous that these artists could just go to a museum and learn just by viewing and just by going to one place. And I also realized that I have never studied the masters of poetry. yup! I went to graduate school and have never studied the masters. In fact, I'm not even sure who the Masters of poetry are. Granted I could throw out some names, like, Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Whitman, Dickinson, but who else? Does Homer count? Shakespeare? And not just the masters of poetry but the movements of poetry which are linked to art. Why aren't there any Poetry History classes in graduate programs, specifically, MFA's? It's really quite frustrating.
So if I ran a graduate program for poets, I would teach poetry history, which would be very similar to art history but would of course look at the different genres (styles) of poetry. Then I would teach a masters class, where I would assign a poem from a master poet each week. The students would have to read that poem everyday, memorize it, think about it, analyze it and write about it in a writing journal. Then as a project that would be due at the end of the semester, they would get to pick a poet from a list that I would provide. This list would consist of only master poets. They would need to read as much poetry from this poet as possible, also they would need to read a bio and criticism. I want them to know this poet like the back of their hand. They would need to provide sources and produce a journal. The journal would consist of them writing about the poet they chose. And as a final they would do a presentation on the poet. Not sure how long this presentation would be, it would depend on how big the class was.
Also if I had the money etc. I would creat a place, maybe a cafe, where poets could go and hang out with the Masters of poetry. Meaning, the place would be lined with bookshelves with just poetry books. Granted I would also include current (modern) poets as well. They could take these books off the shelf and read while sipping their tea. Wouldn't this make a great cafe in IA City?