Class Description
This class if for writers who have written either poetry or prose and are interested in a hybrid form. You will take away an understanding of the lyric essay and have a chance to write your own. After exploring the nature and elements of a lyric essay, we will read several short lyric essays and talk about them.
We might read Lodge: A Lyric Essay by Emilia Philips and Star Stuff by Jessica Franken, both mentioned in an article from Writers.Com on Understanding the Lyric Essay. We will go over 5 Approaches to Writing the Lyric Essay from the article and look at more examples from excerpts of lyric essays such as Zadie Smith’s “The Lazy River” and Jane Harrington’s “Ossein Pith.”
In addition, you will try your hand at writing a short 2 page lyric essay that can be shared with the class during the second session. This can be about anything that interests you and should follow the guidelines we will discuss in the first class. They can interweave something about your own story with reflections/episodes/lists/mythology, any of the elements we’ve seen and talked about. Above all, you should feel free to experiment.
For the second session, we’ll go over the assigned essays and talk about each one.
The instructor for this class is Lo Galluccio. Lo is a poet and memoirist with three chapbooks and a prose-poem memoir published. She was Poet Populist of Cambridge between 2013-2015. She taught a creative writing/ELL class at Emerson College in 2021 and has an MFA from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. She has performed her work at many venues in New York City and Boston including St. Mark’s Place poetry project and the Boston Public Library.
Meeting Information:
This class will meet twice! 11/6 and 11/20 5:00pm - 7:30pm
Who Should Register?
Grub @ The BPL has a special focus on making the creative writing workshop more accessible to those who face challenges due to cost, language skills, lack of access to transportation, and other barriers. We believe that all voices must be spotlighted with the range and fullness they deserve.
These programs are offered tuition-free thanks to the support of generous donors who are committed to our mission of ensuring all voices are heard.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.