Lowell, Plath, and After
Course Description
Summary
This seminar will study the mid-20th century revolution in poetic style and content known as "confessional poetry," a school of poetry that gave voice to the private and personal, highlighting extreme autobiographical experience, as well as subjects that were previously seen as improper or taboo, including mental health, sexuality, suicidal ideation, trauma, menstruation, abortion, postpartum depression, divorce, family dysfunction, rage, and despair. We will read the poets originally labeled "confessional" in the 1950a and 60s -- Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, John Berryman, and W.D. Snodgrass; consider the role of autobiography and the private self in the contemporaneous poetry of Philip Larkin and Elizabeth Bishop, and go on to read later post-confessional, autobiographical,and pseudo-autobiographical poems by Lucille Clifton, Mark Doty, Nick Flynn, Louise Gl眉ck, James Allen Hall, Dorothea Lasky, Cate Marvin, Sharon Olds, Morgan Parker, Paisley Rekdal, Richard Siken, and Sandra Simonds. Students should expect to write two critical essays, do biographical research, and complete several creative assignments.
Learning Outcomes
- Through this seminar we will strive to
a) understand the nature, history, and influence of confessional poetry and the relationship between author and speaker
b) consider the difference between narrative truth and lytic truth, the power and limitations of the "I" in poetry,
c) perform close readings of poems and better understand the relationship between technique and content
d) conduct independent research
e) acquire familiarity with a broad swath of modern and contemporary poetry
Corequisites
Students taking this poetry seminar are expected to attend all Fall 2025 Poetry at Bennington readings, typically on Wednesdays at 8pm.