Contemporary Poets: Ross Gay, Jane Hirshfield, Ocean Vuong, Tracy K Smith, & Tony Hoagland

This five-session course will explore the poetics of one contemporary poet each month, with the purpose of helping writers learn techniques, styles, and strategies that will help them write their own poems. In addition to studying the intersection of each poet’s life, process, and poems, participants will engage in in-class writing exercises based on each individual poet.

Ross Gay won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award, the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in Poetry. His celebratory poems help us feel connected to the earth, to each other, and to our own sense of astonishment and gratitude.

Jane Hirshfield is an award-winning poet, essayist, and translator. Many of her poems focus on the nature of the self and moments of deep insight in everyday life.

Ocean Vuong, a Vietnamese-born poet, was named one of the New York Times Top Ten Poets of 2016. His poems often uses surprising language to explore issues such as ethnicity, sexuality, and cultural violence.

Tracy K. Smith is the current U.S. Poet Laureaute. Her poetry books have won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her poems often focus on issues of loss, spirituality, and history.

Tony Hoagland is an award winning poet and essayist, including the Mark Twain award for his contribution to humor in poetry. His clever and often humorous poems regularly serve as a social critique of contemporary American culture.

Learn how studying these contemporary poets will help you better compose your own poems.