The Elegy: Poetics of Protest and Collective Grief with Kamilah Aisha Moon

How do poets and other artists begin to articulate loss, outrage and grief on a grand scale, distilling universal connections that transcend customs and belief systems? This class is an overview of poetry that responds to public tragedy: we will discuss approaches, ethical considerations and craft choices poets make when responding to various kinds of events (acts of war, gun violence, police brutality, natural disaster, etc.) through art. We will examine poems that employ strategies across aesthetics and poetic impulses, discussing their merits and flaws, as well as the impact poets may have on public consciousness and conscience. These explorations will also entail writing prompts and sharing work in progress as we grapple with some of the most pressing issues of our time.

Kamilah Aisha Moon is the recipient of fellowships from the Cave Canem Foundation, the Prague Summer Writing Institute, the Fine Arts Work Center, the Rose O’Neill Literary House and the Vermont Studio Center. Her debut poetry collection She Has a Name (2013) was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and the Audre Lorde Award from the Publishing Triangle. She has taught English and Creative Writing as a Visiting Professor at Rutgers-Newark and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her next poetry collection is forthcoming in 2017 from Four Way Books.

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