What exactly makes a poem “good”? W.D. Snodgrass took 101 acclaimed poems and re-wrote them into what he called De/Compositions--or, good poems gone wrong. Snodgrass recast the poem, line-by-line, and the result looked entirely different from the original. His versions document how the choices a poet makes accumulate, translate to a transcendent final product. No gesture is too small, no trope too tiny, each one matters.

Each week, participants will choose from among 2-3 poems to discuss and render their own version. You can deconstruct it, recast it classically, go Minimalist, whatever strikes you. Our versions will question each choice the poet made, and redirect that energy into making our “own” poems.

Participants produce 6 poems, and read/pick apart the likes of Lynda Hull, Kay Ryan, Dean Young, Ruth Stone, Miriam Bird Greenberg, Sherman Alexie, David Harsent and Andrew Zawacki.