The Mythic Imagination in Poetry

This four-week course will examine how myth and mythmaking have shaped the Western poetic imagination throughout centuries. For poets, mythic imagination extends not just to reimagining the collected literary works of a people—it is the reimagining of a cultural history in the context of the sociocultural present, the purposeful shaping of an inheritance from the artists and dreamers who have come before us. Guided by poems that explicitly engage with this mythic inheritance, we’ll discover and interrogate the ways in which we may reimagine ourselves. Each class will be located within a specific time and place that has held sway over the artistic imagination. Beginning in classical Greece, we will transition to imperial Rome, post-colonial America, and finally, trans-Atlantic Modernism, discussing how the received mythology of these periods and places serves as fuel for the reimagining of the artists’ cultural and political present. Students will read and reflect on poems from writers past and present that engage with the mythic inheritance of place and history, as well as assume ownership of their personal mythological inheritance through writing exercises. This course is intended to be an exploration of the ways in which the artistic process of making meaning is influenced by the bequeathment of a mythology, rather than a workshop or craft course. No previous poetry experience is necessary. These sessions will be recorded. Wednesdays, March 18th - April 8th 7pm - 8:30pm ET (4pm to 5:30pm PT) ISM Membership Price $110 (email info@ismythology.com for discount) Regular Registration Price: $150