Ry &Ics

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Publications
2010-2020

2012

The Poetry & Poetics Reading Group at the University of Pennsylvania met two Tuesdays a month from 7:30-9:00pm in the Graduate Lounge of Fisher-Bennett Hall (Room 330), and on an ad hoc basis at the Kelly Writers House. This flexible, conversation-based discussion group focused on twentieth-century poetry and contemporary critical work in English. We were open to the public and encouraged interdisciplinary conversation between poetry and poetics, the sciences and the arts. Our group was grounded in the English Department at Penn, but extended into a larger community of poets, critics, and scholars engaged with contemporary poetics in Philadelphia and elsewhere.

Focusing on the intersection of scholarship and poetic practice, this group experimented with a new format of presentation. Invited speakers first read a poem—often their own—which was followed by a critical work on a correspondent issue, presented in dialog with the poem opening the meeting. The aim was for a conversation to emerge among readings of poetry, critical work, and an open network of outside concerns. Bringing practice face-to-face with theory and criticism, this group was conversation and event based. No advance readings were necessary; meetings emphasized the live experience of the work in a shared space.

Two edit publications emerged, one from John Paetsch and the other from Craig Dworkin. (Videos recorded here.) While out of print, the PDFs for both are available by clicking on the images below. Both were formatted in booklet form: printing covers separately with interiors printed 2-sided (&folded) will aid in legibility.