’No laughs please, we’re poets’ – can comic poetry be good poetry?
‘A poem is like a much, much richer joke’ – Adam Zagajewski. On this course, you’ll look at some seriously funny poems by the likes of Glyn Maxwell, Simon Armitage, Thomas Lux, Jo Shapcott and Carol Ann Duffy, exploring a range of approaches to the comic, considering aspects such as narrative, allegory and the use of the surreal. You’ll look at a range of forms, such as the sonnet and the villanelle, and how they can be used to shift a comic poem into seriousness; and how the use of everyday life and characters can result in strange and original comic impacts. Looking at ‘crossover’ writers such as Benjamin Zephaniah and John Cooper Clarke, this course will also seek to bridge the relationship between ‘page’ and ‘performance’ poetry, seeking similarities rather than differences in how both employ comic techniques. Lastly, you will look at what in literary terms is often seen as ‘bad’ comic poetry, while seeking to develop our own comic poems which, while they will hopefully make people smile or laugh, will go far beyond the confines of what is traditionally considered as light verse.
To book your place on this course, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/comicpoetry
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