Versions of the Erotic with Patrick Rosal

In her essay, “Uses of the Erotic,” Audre Lorde clarifies the definition of the erotic, describing its rich and natural relationship to poetry. She emphasizes the empowering nature of our obsessions, our needs, our abiding sorrows, our daily (and often secret) delights. For Lorde, sensation and feeling are essential in understanding our human “capacity for joy.” In this workshop, we’ll look at poems by William Blake, Emily Dickinson, June Jordan, and others whose work provides us versions of the erotic. Each participant will be urged to explore his or her personal sense of the erotic and the language it bears to help generate fragments, drafts, perhaps even whole poems.