Learn why award-winning contemporary poets Tracy Smith, Joy Harjo, and Rita Dove believe “Poetry Matters!”  Why does poetry matter? Because poetry is the language of “the liminal space, the borderland between the divine and the human.” 

Join John Miller and Michael Valliant for a lively discussion of what these poets can teach us about this liminal space through poems about life on Mars, the “trail of tears,” and a “playlist for the apocalypse.” Each of these contemporary poets is a current or former Poet Laureate of the United States and a woman of color. 

• Born in 1972, Smith writes, “Poetry isn’t an escape or even a luxury. I’d argue it’s a necessity, a means of living more deeply with reality.” 

• Born in 1951, Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Nation, is a poet, musician, and playwright. As the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, she is the first Native American to hold this honor. 

• Born in 1952, Rita Dove is the first African American to have served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress since the position was created in 1985. Her poems “investigate the vacillating moral compass guiding America’s, and the world’s, experiments in democracy.” 

Before each class session, Michael and John will send participants “Thoughts for Consideration” to help guide your reading of each poem.  

As a discussion course, your participation is vital — we encourage you to share your opinions, ideas, and thoughts. We will be learning with you and from you. Consider the following analogy: Poet Rita Dove’s definition of a library (quoted at the entrance to the Maine State Library) reads as follows, “The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world.” Sound familiar? “A window into the soul and a door into the world” — an arena of possibility. Together we will discuss what this means.

What to Expect:  During this three-session course you will learn to appreciate the subtleties and emotional “power” of poetry by listening closely to your classmates as both you and your mentors, Michael and John, discuss the assigned poems for the course. You will learn how poetry is both of this physical world and of the divine or spiritual world. You will learn to understand why Tracy Smith wrote, “Poetry isn’t an escape or even a luxury. I’d argue it’s a necessity, a means of living more deeply with reality.”

Feedback from John and Michael’s past poetry course:

“Excellent class! Terrific presenters. Great class participation! Loved every minute of it.”

“The subject matter of this class was out of my comfort zone. Both instructors, Michael Valliant and John Miller, were so well prepared and enthusiastic that I easily became comfortable. With the ‘thoughts for consideration sent’ before the class there was plenty of time to read the material and think about the questions that were posed. The class felt like a community of open-minded learners. Consider doing another poetry class. Thanks.”

“Excellent. Very thought provoking.”