Writing the Elegy

Felicity is teaching a class on elegies at the Loft Literary Center this summer 2024. 

Course Description:

This is a class about writing elegies. It is intended for poets who see elegy as central to their craft, and who would like to workshop recent work in a supportive environment.

As poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz writes, "the true subject of poetry is the loss of the beloved." This class will consider and respect the different poems that emerge from different losses, as well as the many beloveds that can be lost.

At the start of each class, we will read a few elegies by modern and contemporary elegists, who take innovative approaches to this longstanding and often fraught art form. Poets to be considered include Donald Hall, Michael Harper, Natasha Trethewey, Matt Rasmussen, and Gwendolyn Brooks.

We will then consider your own elegies. Over two class sessions, we will be able to read, ruminate upon, and respond to two of your poems. Students should bring these works in progress to the class. Each student will receive oral feedback on both of their pieces from the class, as well as detailed written feedback from me.

All Classes listed on the Loft website take place in Central Standard Time (CST).