How do poets find entry points to their poems? Is it via the image, a poetic form, an idea, an emotion, or something less easily named? In this short class, Ford offers her sense of how vastly different creative practices can be engaged to enlarge one’s poetic vision and articulation. The mind of haiku is not the mind of free verse, for instance, yet both minds can be beautifully activated through study and practice. We’ll traverse international terrain to discuss poems that Ford hopes will inspire you. Reading poetry connects you to an art where you can find yourself on the page. As we discuss how you are drawn to certain types of poetry, you will begin to see why some speak to you and others do not.

KATIE FORD is the author of four books of poems, Deposition, Colosseum, Blood Lyrics, and If You Have to Go, all published by Graywolf Press. Blood Lyrics was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the Rilke Prize. Colosseum was named among the “Best Books of 2008” by Publishers Weekly and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She completed graduate work in world religions, theology, and poetry at Harvard University and received her M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has taught poetry and creative writing for over 20 years around the country. She is currently a Professor of Creative Writing and lives in South Pasadena with her daughter.

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