In February 2024, Taylor Swift announced her latest upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, to equal parts excitement and derision online. Swift’s (ironic?) self-identification as a “tortured poet” asks us to ponder: What is a poet? What is a poem? What relationship do song lyrics have to poetry? In what ways might a song or poem actually reflect the “self” of the writer? How might it benefit Taylor Swift to brand herself as a poet?
In this generative session, we’ll consider these questions as we study the history of confessional poetry, using the work of confessional poets like Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath alongside contemporary poets like Diane Seuss and Ada Limón. We’ll also consider the work of artists such as Leonard Cohen, David Berman, Jamila Woods, and Kara Jackson, who have both written songs and published poetry—and, of course, we’ll study the lyrics of Swift herself to see how she plays with genre, metaphor, and persona. Then we’ll try our hands at using Swift’s techniques to produce and share some work of our own.
Use code EARLYBIRD at checkout for 10% off through May 6! (Porch members, check your email for your special earlybird discount code.)
Ellie Black is a poet and memoirist. She’s currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi, where she also received her MFA. Winner of the 2023 Pinch Literary Award in Poetry, she has work published in The Drift, Ninth Letter, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Mississippi Review, The Offing, Black Warrior Review, Best New Poets, and elsewhere.
Ellie is new to The Porch. Welcome!
