Writing Contemporary Ireland: Elegy, Epistle, Ekphrasis

Overview

This module will focus on reading, discussing, and writing critically and creatively in response to a diverse range of contemporary Irish Literature texts via the lens of the three unique poetic modes of elegy, epistle and ekphrasis, thereby encouraging exploration of literary tradition, experimentation, direct address and audience.

In this module, students can expect to: 1.) expand their exposure to--and engagement with—contemporary Irish writing 2.) deepen their understanding of how course texts of various genres engage with poetic tradition and 3.) practice a range of creative writing craft techniques developed in conversation with course texts and approaches aimed toward developing a small body of original creative work.

Some questions we might ask over the course of the term include: How might an elegy evoke the action of mourning? Must we physically see a work of art addressed in an ekphrastic poem to “see” it? How does a letter poem navigate lyric and narrative modes? And finally, how might these genres operate uniquely within the context of Irish literature, as well as boundary cross with other genres, arts and modes of communication?

Students will work with their peers as an engaged community of writers and submit a final portfolio of polished creative work and/or critical essay on a research question developed in response to course texts. By the end of the term, each student will have both a small collection of original poems and a growing sense of personal thematic interests and technical strengths.

Learning Objectives

Through the completion of this module students would be expected to:

Understand how craft strategies work to create good creative writing;

Understand the importance of self-awareness and reflection in the writing process;

Improve understanding of how reading a broad range of aesthetically and socially diverse literature relates to experiences beyond the classroom and within writing practices

Possess strategies for bridging creative and critical approaches to literature and particularly poetry, reading as writers and using literature to bring focus to self-authored works.

Skills

Skills developed through this module will include:

Daily writing practice skills

Critical analysis skills

Personal and peer appraisal skills (the ability to review own work and that of others in constructive ways)

Communication skills

Assessment

None