Remote 4-Week Workshop: Tacey M. Atsitty: Sonnets and Hybridity: Remembering Emblem Poetry

Sonnets and Hybridity: Remembering Emblem Poetry of the 15^th and 16^th Centuries

In this 4-week course, we will begin by looking at several examples of emblem poetry (multimodal: textual and visual literatures) from the Italian poet Andrea Alciato (1531), along with English poets Geoffrey Whitney (Choice of Emblems, 1586) and Henry Peacham (Minerva Brittana, 1612). We will look briefly at the history of the sonnet, see where it was at that point in history, and write 2-3 poems in that form. As we consider why the emblem form never made it into the literary canon, we will also acknowledge the complications and delights of juxtaposing images with poetry. 

Since emblem poetry is a hybrid form, there is also a visual/art component. You (or someone you know) can draw/create 2-3 images or prototypes that will accompany your poems. We will share our work and receive constructive feedback. And at the end of this class, we will have a simple chapbook of the classes’ emblem poems bound and distributed by Poets House.

Watch Tacey read from her first book, Rain Scald here!

4 Sessions  |  Oct 31 – Nov 21  |  6-8pm ET  |  $200 ($180 for members)

(Tues Oct 31, Tues Nov 7, Wed Nov 15, and Tues Nov 21)

Tacey M. Atsitty emblem poem “Tsé nináhálééh, Monster Eagle,” 2023.

All are welcome, space is limited. A number of need-based scholarships are available. Please email support@poetshouse.org with any questions.

About the educator:

Tacey M. Atsitty, Diné (Navajo), is Tsénahabiłnii (Sleep Rock People) and born of Ta’neeszahnii (Tangle People). She was born in Logan, UT, grew up in Kirtland, NM but is originally from Cove, AZ. She holds bachelor’s degrees from Brigham Young University and the Institute of American Indian Arts, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell University.  

Atsitty is a recipient of the Brittingham Prize for Poetry and other awards. She holds bachelor’s degrees from Brigham Young University and the Institute of American Indian Arts, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in, or is forthcoming from: POETRY, EPOCH, Kenyon Review Online, Prairie Schooner, When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, and other publications. Her first book is Rain Scald (University of New Mexico Press, 2018), and her second book (At) Wrist is forthcoming from University of Wisconsin Press in Fall 2023. 

She is the director of the Navajo Film Festival, a member of Advisory Council for BYU’s Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, a board member for Lightscatter Press, and founding member of the Intermountain All-Women Hoop Dance Competition. She is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where she lives with her husband. Photo by Mandi White. Learn more about Tacey here: https://taceymatsitty.com/