No matter what object a poem trains its attention upon, the best thing our work can do is to uplift the eye, the heart, and the language. In this workshop, we'll use the methodology of the ode as a basis for sharpening our acts of description, in poetry and in prose. 

We’ll look at the work of Pindar, John Keats, Allen Ginsberg, Bernadette Mayer, Sharon Olds, Matthea Harvey, Ross Gay, and many others as we seek out new and unexpected ways to celebrate the things we see.

While we'll take strategies from the ode, students are welcome to workshop any poems they like, with attention particularly on imagery and the rendering of minute particulars.