The New Nature Poem: Critical Approaches to Writing about the Natural World (Tuesday, November 28)

Nature poems are far more than just beautiful description. Contemporary poets are discovering innovative new approaches to writing about animals, the environment, and climate change. In this class, we’ll discuss ways to make our nature-inspired poems more dynamic, explore ethical questions around animal metaphors, read poems that will inspire new strategies, and generate new work that pushes our poems toward a critical engagement with the natural world.

About the Instructor: Erin L. McCoy’s poetry and fiction have been published or are forthcoming in the American Poetry Review, Narrative, Bennington Review, Conjunctions, Pleiades, and other publications. Her work has appeared in the Best New Poetsanthology twice, selected by Natalie Diaz and Kaveh Akbar, and she was a finalist for the Missouri Review’s 2021 Miller Audio Prize. Erin is an assistant poetry editor at Narrative, a proofreader at Penguin Random House, and acquisitions editor for Seattle-based independent publisher Entre Ríos Books. She holds an MFA in creative writing and an MA in Hispanic studies from the University of Washington, and is from Louisville, Kentucky. Her website is erinlmccoy.com. 

Date: Tuesday, November 28

Time: 6:00-8:00pm

Location: 10 5th St. N. St. Pete

(Classroom is upstairs above Florida Craft Art Gallery in the Art Lofts space. Enter the RED double doors off 5th St. N. and take the elevator to access the classroom. It is directly across from the elevator on the 2nd floor. 

Class is limited to 15 students.