Online Workshop — Anthony Anaxagorou: Writing Humour: The Comedy of a Poem (Sat 11 Sept 2021, 1–4pm UK)
Online Workshop — Anthony Anaxagorou: Writing Humour: The Comedy of a Poem (Sat 11 Sept 2021, 1–4pm UK)
Writing Humour – Saturday 11 September, 1–4pm (UK)
In an essay entitled Happiness Writes White the late Clive James wrote, ‘true artists don't need love trouble to stave off happiness: all they have to do is look at the world.’ So much of poetry is predicated on specific interpersonal tensions. On lachrymosity. On despair and turmoil. To write with earnestness or with any kind of authority and urgency can sometimes be counterproductive for certain readers, so how else could we explore the interiority of life without undermining its gravity or succumbing to certain tropes. One overlooked theme is humour. A line I often think about is from George Bernard Shaw who quipped ‘if you want to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh or they’ll kill you.’ Poets over centuries have used humour as a means of exploring and obscuring the complex and idiosyncratic side of human nature. From absurdism, surrealism and transcendentalism, humour in poetry takes the edge off the subject, it invites the reader in with less grandeur and instruction while also acknowledging fallibility.
In this workshop we’ll be looking at poems which make us laugh to make us think. Poems which at their core are deeply serious but manage to circumvent the obvious to provoke and stir the reader through use of wit, dialogue, and situational humour. The worksheet will include poems by James Tate, Russel Edison, Jennifer L. Knox, Michael Early Craig, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, Morgan Parker, Jack Underwood, Caroline Bird, Crispin Best, Hera Lyndsey Bird and Mark Waldron.
The workshop is open to all and will include a close reading of a set poem, time to write and a chance to share for those who wish.
Max: 25 ppl
Price £20
Duration 3 hours
Writing Humour – Saturday 11 September, 1–4pm (UK)
In an essay entitled Happiness Writes White the late Clive James wrote, ‘true artists don't need love trouble to stave off happiness: all they have to do is look at the world.’ So much of poetry is predicated on specific interpersonal tensions. On lachrymosity. On despair and turmoil. To write with earnestness or with any kind of authority and urgency can sometimes be counterproductive for certain readers, so how else could we explore the interiority of life without undermining its gravity or succumbing to certain tropes. One overlooked theme is humour. A line I often think about is from George Bernard Shaw who quipped ‘if you want to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh or they’ll kill you.’ Poets over centuries have used humour as a means of exploring and obscuring the complex and idiosyncratic side of human nature. From absurdism, surrealism and transcendentalism, humour in poetry takes the edge off the subject, it invites the reader in with less grandeur and instruction while also acknowledging fallibility.
In this workshop we’ll be looking at poems which make us laugh to make us think. Poems which at their core are deeply serious but manage to circumvent the obvious to provoke and stir the reader through use of wit, dialogue, and situational humour. The worksheet will include poems by James Tate, Russel Edison, Jennifer L. Knox, Michael Early Craig, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, Morgan Parker, Jack Underwood, Caroline Bird, Crispin Best, Hera Lyndsey Bird and Mark Waldron.
The workshop is open to all and will include a close reading of a set poem, time to write and a chance to share for those who wish.
Max: 25 ppl
Price £20
Duration 3 hours