Kay Ryan (born 1945) U.S. Poet Laureate (2008-2010) |
Kay Ryan Poetry Workshops: "The Occasions of Poetry" (English 192V) Stanford University Winter Quarter 2010 January 27-March 9, 2010
Peter Y. Chou |
Calliope, Muse of Poetry from Muses Urania & Calliope (1634) |
Winter semester 2010 was a wonderful learning experience in Kay Ryan's Stanford Poetry Workshops. We were fortunate to have a current U.S. Poet Laureate (2008-2010) teaching us (January 5-March 9, 2010). Kay was overly generous telling the class her life story and her writing methods. My mind was blown away when she recited her Zen-like poem "After Zeno" written at age 19 when her father died "When he was/I was/But I still am/and he is still./Where is is/when is is/was?/ I have an is/but where/is his?/Now here; no where./Such a little fatal pause./ There is no sense/in past tense." Kay passed her Waite Tarot deck and Ripley's Believe It or Not book to the class, telling us how picking a random card or page will trigger a poem. It inspired my first poem of the year when I chose the random card "Three of Wands". Unlike other poets who asked students to bring poems to class for critiques, Kay asked us to write essays based on her assigned readings or class discussions. When students asked Kay whether we can bring in poems for class critiques, Kay said "I've never taken a poetry workshop or have given one. One brings poems to please their classmates and that may not make you a better writer." Kay's essay assignments made me reflect more inwardly and somehow she inspired me to write more poems than the other Mohr Poets (2007-09) I had at Stanford. Below are the essays written for Kay Ryan's workshops and my Notes of her Stanford Poetry Reading and Colloquium. |
Date | Title of Poetry Essays |
September 26, 2008 | Lightness of Being (written 16 months before Kay's class) |
January 27, 2010 | Lightness in Dante's Purgatorio 9 |
February 2, 2010 | What Makes a Poem Lasting? |
February 9, 2010 | Poetry & Prayer |
February 23, 2010 | Nonsense Rhymes in Mother Goose |
March 2, 2010 | Galen Strawson: Narrative & Episodic Minds |
March 9, 2010 | Poetry Day: April 1, 2010 |
February 23, 2010 | Kay Ryan: Stanford Poetry Reading |
March 2, 2010 | Kay Ryan: Stanford Poetry Colloquium |
© Peter Y. Chou, WisdomPortal.com, P.O. Box 390707, Mountain View, CA 94039 email: (12-28-2010) |
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