Academy of Intentional Magic/Plague, Pestilence, Pandemic: Writing Poems In A Time Of Affliction (Independent Study)

  • $49 or 2 monthly payments of $25

Plague, Pestilence, Pandemic: Writing Poems In A Time Of Affliction (Independent Study)

  • Course
  • 11 Lessons

In this workshop, we’ll look at specific examples of how poets from the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries have written about health crises such as bubonic plague, Spanish flu, AIDS, and Covid-19. Readings and prompts will illustrate/model varied approaches to writing about illness, medicine, and healing, focusing on specific forms (e.g. persona poems, odes, and elegies), techniques, and strategies.

Outcomes

What You’ll Experience

A generative poetry workshop for writers ready to deepen their voice.

  • Develop 4 new poems

  • Acc generative prompts tailored to voice

  • Receive meaningful group feedback

  • Build a weekly writing rhythm

Lifetime access • Start anytime • Write at your own pace

Course Content

Instant access to all writing prompts, exercises, and lessons — work at your own pace, anytime, from anywhere. Explore generative exercises, craft techniques, and guided prompts designed to spark new poems and deepen your voice.

I am the poet of the Body

About I am the poet of the Body
Lesson
Readings
Assignment & Prompts
Further Reading

I am the poet of the Soul

About I am the poet of the Soul
Lesson
Readings
Conclusion
Assignment / Prompts
Further Reading

workshop designed by

Jo Pitkin

MFA, Writers' Workshop, University of Iowa

Jo Pitkin is a native of the Hudson Valley. She earned a BA in Creative Writing and Literature from Kirkland College—one of the first undergraduate creative writing degrees in the United States—and an MFA in Poetry from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. She is the author of a chapbook, The Measure (Finishing Line Press, 2007), and four full-length books—Cradle of the American Circus: Poems from Somers, New York (The History Press, 2012); Commonplace Invasions (Salmon Poetry, 2014); Rendering (Salmon Poetry, 2017); and Village: Recession (Salmon Poetry, 2020). She is also the editor of the anthology Lost Orchard: Prose and Poetry from the Kirkland College Community (SUNY Press, 2014).

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