Join the Poetry & Poetics Colloquium for a discussion and an immersive workshop on the role of the broadside in poetry. We will start with a discussion of the short article “What Is a Ballad? Reading for Genre, Format, and Medium” by Meredith L. McGill, then move into a hands-on broadside making workshop using a linoleum block printing method (all materials are included and no experience is required).
Note: bring a short poem or excerpt to use as the text for your broadside. You will be using 4″x6″ blocks so keep in mind that the space will be tight. A poem about the size of “P.S.” by Franz Wright fits pretty snugly onto a block this size. We will have texts for people to choose from if you forget or aren’t in the mood to select something yourself.
P.S. by Franz Wright
I close my eyes and see
a seagull in the desert
high, against unbearably blue sky.
There is hope in the past.
I’m writing to you
all the time, I am writing
with both hands,
day and night.
Wednesday 14 May 2025, 5pm-6:30pm
Kaplan Seminar Room (Kresge, 2-351), Northwestern University
Access the reading on JSTOR here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26377165