[ poetry ]
Against Confession: A Generative Workshop, with Jack Davis
saturdays november 5-26
10am—noon Eastern time
virtual (Zoom + Google Docs)
Who is the “I” in a poem? Are we always writing from our own voice? Who does a poem speak to, and through what mask?
This craft and generative workshop explores confessionalism, the premiere poetic movement born out of the 20th century. Confessionalists shifted poetry from opaque surrealism to a more direct, colloquial style, often unleashing subjects that were, at least at the time, taboo: psychological distress, breakdowns, divorce, sex. This attracted a wider, but still very limited, audience for poets like Lowell, Plath, and Olds.
In this craft class, we’ll discuss the confessionalist movement as a whole, including the poets that stamp this period, their social politics, and their limits. We’ll also lean into the question of voice and explore what we can take (or not) from one of the most revolutionary periods of modern literature. Poets everywhere, at all levels – join us!
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Jack Davis is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently an MFA Candidate in Poetry at New York University, where he teaches undergraduates. He has studied under the world's most acclaimed poets including Sharon Olds, Catherine Barnett, Robin Coste-Lewis, and Alan Shapiro.
In 2019 he was appointed as a Princeton in Asia Fellow to teach university poetry and creative writing in Northern Thailand. In 2020 he spearheaded a poetry installation at the United Nations, which collected work from over 20 countries and seven languages.
Jack instructs writers in a rich variety of genres. He particularly enjoys working with clients interested in selective applicant processes which require personal statements. His clients are regularly admitted into the country’s top design and academic institutions.
