A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.

Elise Paschen

Assistant Professor, Adjunct

Bio

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Writing (1999). BA, 1982, Harvard University; MPhil, 1984, DPhil, 1988, Oxford University. Books: The Nightlife; Bestiary; Infidelities; Houses: Coasts. Periodicals and Anthologies: The New Yorker; The New Republic; The Nation; The Hudson Review; Ploughshares; Poetry Magazine; A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women; Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writings. Edited: The Eloquent Poem; Poetry Speaks to Children; Poetry Speaks Who I Am; The Harvard Advocate. Co-edited: Poetry in Motion: 100 Poems from the Subways & Buses; Poetry Speaks; Poetry Speaks Expanded; Poetry in Motion from Coast to Coast; Oxford Poetry. Co-founder: Poetry in Motion; Oxford Poetry. Former Executive Director: Poetry Society of America. Awards: Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs Medal; The Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize; The Frances Allen Fellowship; The Lloyd McKim Garrison Medal.

 

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This class serves as an entry into the historical, theoretical and practical concerns of creative writing as an art form in itself and as a vital element of interdisciplinary projects. We explore the possibilities of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays and hybrid practices as writing for the page, as well as for performance, sound, installation, and image-based pieces. Readings include diverse examples of genre and form, as well as investigations of literary and thematic terminology. Students generate weekly responses to reading and writing exercises that focus on understanding the mechanics of writing, and are introduced to workshopping techniques and etiquette.

Class Number

1883

Credits

3

Description

Poetry can provide a necessary circular path¿ where the page offers a place to think out loud. But poetry, simultaneously, provides a way OUT of the circularity and the spin. It can provide unexpected resolution¿a quick turn, surprise, a daring jump, or rupture¿¿ writes Layli Long Soldier, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation. In this advanced workshop, we will challenge and reinvigorate your approach to writing poetry. We will experiment with poetic hybrids, exploring collage, docupoetics, ecopoetics, ekphrastic, and erasure, to name a few. We will read the work of groundbreaking contemporary writers such as Layli Long Soldier, Claudia Rankine, Craig Santoz Perez, Kimiko Hahn, Harryette Mullen, Victoria Chang, Forrest Gander, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Ilya Kaminsky, and others. Each week, you will be offered writing prompts to create your own poetic possibilities. For the final class, you will present at least six pieces you have written during the course of the semester. This class is open to students exploring any genre.

Class Number

1904

Credits

3