In this course, we shall be exploring a broad range of British and US-American contemporary poetry. You will develop your skills in close reading and analysis, and gain a richer understanding of the social and cultural contexts that have shaped these 21st century poems. Themes include the nuclear family, loneliness, grief, and gentrification, and they will be discussed alongside the poems and theoretical texts. You will need to obtain your own copy of our core texts. The other individual poems we will be looking at will be provided on Moodle.
Core Texts:
- Rendang by Will Harris
- Stranger, Baby by Emily Berry
- How the End Begins by Cynthia Cruz
- St Day Road by Aaron Kent
- The Body’s Question by Tracy K. Smith
Semester: SoSe 2021