The Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2017

Thanks to Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001), who redefined the ghazal within our complex American context, more than 100 contemporary poets, including Natasha Trethewey, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Patricia Smith, and Margaret Szumowski (1949-2013), have written and published American ghazals. This engaging and interactive workshop invites participants to read aloud a few American ghazals (pronounced guzzles) so that we may discuss together how published poets are channeling their diverse creative, cultural and experiential experiences into this intriguing form. As a group, we will then strive to write a first draft of a ghazal on the spot; participants will determine whether we write a first draft of a collaborative ghazal or individual ones. Participants will leave with a greater appreciation of this lyrical poetic form.