Creating Found Poetry: A Generative Poetry Class

“Poetry can be found anywhere and created from anything,” says instructor Thea Matthews. “To create found poetry, you can use pre-existing pieces of text like news articles, blog posts, published poems, and even excerpts from legal documents to rediscover the way in which you use words to create art.”

In this three-week class, we’ll find and collect words and passages from other pieces of text and mix these and our own words together to experiment with new voices, phrasings, and vocabularies in our own poems. Over the three weeks, we’ll explore three specific types of found poetry: the collage poem, in which we’ll combine found words and phrases with our own; the erasure poem, where we’ll remove parts of an already existing poem while maintaining the original sequencing of words to create a new piece; and the blackout poem, where we’ll redact parts of lines and sentences of a work to uncover hidden and create new meanings. For guidance with our own writing, we’ll read examples from poets Tracy K. Smith, Robin Coste Lewis, and Nicole Sealey. 

“This generative class is great for writers of all levels and provides a safe, supportive environment to explore and create,” says Thea. "By the end of the three weeks, students will not only have seen and discussed many examples of found poetry, but they will also have three poem drafts of the different types discussed. Each student will also have the chance to receive light feedback in response to their freshly drafted work.”

About The Writing Salon's Online Zoom Classes

You will be able to participate in live class meetings via Zoom videoconference. To attend classes, you'll need a phone, tablet or computer and access to the internet. You can participate in the class from wherever you'd like, whether on your living room couch or in your office. Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about Zoom and your remote class. If you have any questions about remote learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.