Making a Point in Two Lines: The Challenge of the Modern Ghazal

The Ghazal is a form whose aesthetics allow it to make a grand gesture in merely two lines. How does a successful Ghazal string these “independent, epigrammatic” couplets without sounding archaic or sentimental? In this workshop, we’ll take a brief look at the rich tradition of the Ghazal in Urdu, and explore some well-crafted Ghazals by contemporary American poets. Workshop participants will engage in writing exercises and discussion on their way to writing their own Ghazal.

Shadab Zeest Hashmi, author of Kohl and Chalk and Baker of Tarifa, is the recipient of the San Diego Book Award, the Nazim Hikmet Prize, and multiple Pushcart nominations. Her work has been translated into Spanish and Urdu, and has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Mudlark, The Cortland Review, Poetry International, Vallum, POEM, The Adirondack Review, Spillway, Atlanta Review, Journal of Postcolonial Writings, Wasafiri, Rhino, Nimrod, Drunken Boat, World Literature Today, Asymptote and other journals worldwide. She has taught in the MFA program at San Diego State University as a writer-in-residence and has presented in Turkey, Spain, Pakistan, Mexico and the UK.

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