Led by Zeina Hashem Beck, a California-based Lebanese poet whose third poetry collection, O, was published by Penguin Poets in 2022. It was named a Book of the Year by Lithub and The New York Public Library and received high praise on NPR, Chicago Review of Books, Library Journal, and elsewhere. She has a BA and an MA in English Literature from the American University of Beirut and has taught poetry workshops in the US and internationally. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, The Atlantic, and Poetry, among others.

This is a workshop that explores ways in which the transcendent and the physical worlds intersect.

What are the different ways we define and experience faith? How can the daily be imbued with the otherworldly? Can a poem become a prayer of sorts? What’s the relationship between faith and desire? Poems often disrupt dichotomies, and this six-week workshop will focus on poems that exist at the intersection of the divine and the profane, bridging what might seem like two separate realms.

We will read poets like Kaveh Akbar, Louise Glück, Aracelis Girmay, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Li-Young Lee, Ellen Bass, Rabi’a al-Basri, and others, whose work engages with the spiritual realm in personal, political, searching, humorous, and/or unusual ways.

Every week, we will discuss what we’ve been reading, share our thoughts, and begin writing based on prompts. We will center wonder and excitement, and the classroom will be a space where everyone is appreciated and encouraged.

We will start workshopping in the second week, and participants will be given poems to read before our introductory session. This course is for writers at all stages of their careers, whether they’re new to poetry or have been writing for years.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS

• Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how poems work, be it through our study of images, line breaks, tone, or different poetic forms and techniques.
• Participants can expect to have a bundle of new poems by the end of the workshop.
• The workshop will provide a supportive environment in which participants are encouraged to write weekly.
• Our weekly meetings will be an exciting space for discussion, exploration, and inspiration.
• Participants will receive prompts in class, and some class time will be dedicated to writing.
• Participants will receive feedback on their work. The number of workshopped poems per student will depend on class size.
• We will explore how to write about inner lives in compelling, complex ways.

TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE

• Week 1: Writing about Ritual
• Week 2: Addressing the Divine
• Week 3: God in the Self, the Body
• Week 4: God in Wonder & Stillness
• Week 5: Prayer Poem
• Week 6: Faith & Doubt

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: