A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry

A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry

Robert Hass
Berkeley Book Chats
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Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall

The intuitive, creative aspects of a poet’s work can be elusive. In A Little Book on Form (Harper Collins, 2017) professor of English and former US poet laureate Robert Hass demonstrates his formidable gifts as both a poet and a critic. Starting with the exploration of a single line and moving into an examination of the essential expressive gestures that exist within forms, Hass goes beyond approaching form as merely a set of traditional rules that precede composition.

Hass is joined by John Shoptaw (English). After a brief discussion of Hass's work, they open the floor for discussion.