TRN195H: Poetry & the Public: Social Movements & the Ethics of Response

TRN195H: Poetry & the Public: Social Movements & the
Ethics of Response

Course Description

Poetry & The Public considers the motivation, intent, reception, and ethics of poetic response to major political events of the late 20th and 21st centuries. Through a wide survey of poems, we will investigate not only the contextual motivation for poets responding to political issues but interrogate the formal and performative means by which they present their work to the public. Poems will be read within a wider history of social movements and civil liberties; and touch upon major historical events such as the AIDS crisis, Black liberation struggles, movements for feminist and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, ecological and climate-change concerns, and current calls for prison abolition. We will touch upon poetic “schools” or “styles,” including the Poetics of Witness, persona poetry, the Black Arts Movement, and the Kootenay School of Writing. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Course Instructor

Zoe Imani Sharpe Zoe Imani Sharpe is a poet whose work spans poetry, essay, literary criticism, art writing, and scholarly research. Her current interests include linguistics, architectural aesthetics, grief and mourning practices, labour, and contemporary poetry throughout Canada and the US. She holds an MFA from the University of Guelph and BA in Creative Writing and English Literature from Concordia University in Montréal. Zoe’s teaching practice extends from universities to artist-run centres to collaborative workshops. Her recent writing has appeared in YYZ Artists’ Outlet, The Writers’ Trust of Canada, and Best Canadian Poetry 2021. Photo Credit: sarah bodri