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Master Class with Kazim Ali: Cryptoforms
Application Deadline: MONDAY, October 12, 2020
Nov 7, 2020 | 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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SATURDAY, November 7, 2pm – 6pm
SUNDAY, November 8, 12pm – 4pm
Application Deadline: MONDAY, October 12
Online Video Conference Master Class with Kazim Ali.
In addition to revisioning and revising classical forms like the sonnet, the ghazal, the pantoum, and sestina to fit the requirements of contemporary times and subjects, poets have invented new forms borne of our information-saturated and media-fluent new world of signs and significance. We will spend one day looking at various poems that respond to and reinvent old forms, including poems by Jericho Brown, Natalie Diaz, Richard Scott, Agha Shahid Ali, and Shreela Ray, as well as look at new forms being invented by poets like George Abraham, Xandria Phillips, and Daniel W.K. Lee, such as poems written in the forms of math theorems, tarot decks, and multiple choice quizzes. A writing assignment will be given and the second day we will look at work generated by students in the class.
Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass multiple genres, including the volumes of poetry Inquisition, Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism. After a career in public policy and organizing, Ali taught at various colleges and universities, including Oberlin College, Davidson College, St. Mary’s College of California, and Naropa University. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His newest books are a volume of three long poems entitled The Voice of Sheila Chandra and a memoir of his Canadian childhood, Northern Light.
Photograph of Kazim Ali by Tanya Rosen-Jones.
This Master Class is offered via Zoom, a free video conferencing app.
This Master Class registration includes free Zoom tutorial.
Accepted students must pay the full admission, $395, before the start of the class.