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Introduction: The Pleasure Poetry Gives Us
Episode overview
Meet your new instructor: Billy Collins, one of the most popular and prolific poets of our time. In your first lesson, Billy introduces the many pleasures of poetry and illuminates how poetry connects you to the history of the human heart.
58x2
Working With Form
Episode overview
Billy teaches you how to use form to win the love of your readers, an audience of strangers.
58x3
Discovering the Subject
Episode overview
In poetry, you can do anything and go anywhere. Learn how to embrace the freedom of poetry to embark on explorations of subject, progression, and the balance of clarity and mystery.
58x4
Writing the Poem
Episode overview
Billy teaches practical exercises that will galvanize your writing process.
58x5
Writing Process
Episode overview
Billy shares his personal notebooks and gives rare insight into the process of writing his poem “Grand Central.”
58x6
Reading: Connecting With Poetry
Episode overview
A poem is not a cookbook. Learn how embracing nuance and ambiguity can be your greatest ally when reading poetry.
58x7
Discussion With Marie Howe: Emily Dickinson
Episode overview
Billy invites acclaimed poet and friend Marie Howe to read and discuss Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain.” Learn how Dickinson’s creative use of capitalization builds an entire world out of a state of mind.
58x8
Discussion With Marie Howe: William Shakespeare
Episode overview
Billy and Marie discuss how the speaker in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73” uses metaphor to bid a final farewell to his beloved.
58x9
Sound Pleasures
Episode overview
Learn the tools beyond rhyme and meter that Billy utilizes to achieve a musical, toe-tapping kind of joy in his poetry.
58x10
Playing a Visible Game
Episode overview
Billy is a self-proclaimed “terrible rhymer.” Learn one of his techniques for capturing a reader’s attention without relying on rhymed or metered poetry.
58x11
Turning a Poem
Episode overview
Billy teaches you how to harness the imaginative flexibility of a poem, turning it in new directions to be playful with your reader.
58x12
Discussion With Marie Howe: "What the Living Do"
Episode overview
Learn how what began as a letter to her brother became one of Marie’s most acclaimed poems with “What the Living Do.”
58x13
Discussion With Marie Howe: "The Death of the Hat"
Episode overview
Billy and Marie unpack how Billy’s poem “The Death of the Hat” moves from being a poem about a hat to an elegy for his father.
58x14
Finding Your Voice: Influences
Episode overview
Your voice lies on the shelves of the library and the bookstore. Learn how reading the work of other poets will help develop your unique persona.
58x15
Finding Your Voice: Creating a Persona
Episode overview
Learn how to develop a distinctive persona for yourself, solving most issues around writing poetry.
58x16
Humor as a Serious Strategy
Episode overview
Billy shares how humor is an essential part of his persona and teaches you how to use humor in your poetry for serious reasons.
58x17
Student Discussion: "My (Muslim) Father Seizes the Thing on My Nightstand" by Sarah Iqbal
Episode overview
Learn how spacing and word repetition create tone in student Sarah Iqbal’s poem “My (Muslim) Father Seizes the Thing on My Nightstand.”
58x18
Student Discussion: "The Crash" by Paul Epland
Episode overview
Billy and student Paul Epland discuss point of view in “The Crash.” Learn how Billy’s suggestion to add three words helps with the turn in the poem.
58x19
Discussion With Marie Howe: Writing Poetry
Episode overview
According to Marie, “so much of writing is getting beyond the will.” Billy and Marie share practical exercises they use to get out of their heads and into their writing.
58x20
A Poet's Journey
Episode overview
Billy invites you to join the club of poets who have been writing since the beginning of time.

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