Fund drive. I’ll be playing special shows as well as pitching. The premium
I’m offering, which will be made available to up to ten listeners, is a
master class in poetry: each class will be four hours of one on one with
me. (The four hours will be arranged in two sessions of two hours each.)
This class can cover either the history of English-language poetry, with
analysis of selected examples, or it can cover discussion of the student’s
own work. Topics will range widely and may include techniques of writing,
overcoming fears (“writer’s block”), translating, writing song lyrics,
political poetry (how to keep it poetry as well as political), formal
modes and the reasons for them, publishing, performing (how to present
your poetry to an audience, on the radio, television), etc.. On these
shows, in addition to pitching, I will be playing readings of poetry and
perhaps some short essays on poetry—some by me, some by others. The
readings will begin with Chaucer, read by Nevill Coghill
and Norman Davis.