maroon~age

Beyond the epistolary poem (a form in which the speaker addresses a “you”) there lies a more surprising turn:  a breaking of the “fourth wall”.  In this case, the voice in the poem reaches out to you, the reader. For this workshop we will explore this unexpected invitation by seizing upon the volta—the place in a poem that takes a “turn”.  The volta is the perfect juncture for a directive from the speaker, who “breaks” the poem’s interior in order to call the reader to action.  

We will examine poems that invite interjection and surprise as models for writing our own poems that “break the fourth wall”.  Therefore, we will consider the contemporary (American) sonnet, the Haibun (with its ending Haiku twist), and the Chinese Quatrain (with its third-line turns).  For context, we will reference the popular culture roots of “breaking the fourth wall” through a brief overview of how this device functions in comic books and cinema.  

Readings for this workshop will include at least the following texts:
from One Hundred Quatrains by Patrizia Valduga (quatrain)
Quatrains for Ishi by Yusef Komunyakaa (quatrain)
Summer Haibun by Aimee Nezhukumatatil (sonnet)
American Sonnet : 91 by Wanda Coleman (sonnet)
Domestic by Carl Phillips (epistolary)
Consider the Hands that Write this Letter by Aracelis Girmay (epistolary)
Additional Source:
Structure & Surprise: Engaging Poetic Forms (the blog companion to the book [edited by Michael Theune, 2007] with the same title.

ABOUT JENNIFER

Jennifer Price is an African American, Chicago born poet, visual artist, and former public librarian rooted in the Southern United States.  She has the honor of being a member of Obsidian Literature & Arts’ inaugural O|Sessions Black Listening cohort, and she is a 2023 Teaching Artist trainee of the Community-Word Project.  Jennifer’s work is published in the up//root collective, in Torch Literary Arts’ Friday Feature Series, and in the Kolaj Institute’s rendition of Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, a Master of Library & Information Science from the University of South Carolina, and is a certified Georgia Master Naturalist.  Jennifer’s creative practice embraces theory and research along with issues of motherhood and place.