Poets Studied and in Conversation

Study, emulate and engage in discussion with noted Bay Area poets. The course is divided into two-week segments, each devoted to an individual poet. The first week, you study the poet's work, including one of his or her latest books. The second week, that poet attends class for a discussion of poetics and process. You also write your own poems from exercises inspired by the five poets' work, and a part of each class is devoted to a workshop of students' writing. Emphasis is on the exploration of new writing ideas and approaches arising from the work studied. Instructor Laura Walker, M.F.A., is the author of story (Apogee, 2016), Follow-Hawed (Apogee, 2012), bird book (Shearsman Books, 2011), rimertown/an atlas (UC Press, 2008) and swarm lure (Battery Press, 2004). A UC Berkeley Extension instructor since 2004, she has also taught in the M.F.A. in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco and at San Francisco State University. She is the recipient of a Fund for Poetry grant. Each term, we invite a select group of poets to offer their advice, expertise and talent to the class. Invited poets for this term are listed in the section notes to the right.