Edward Hirsch (photo: Mike McGregor) and American poets: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frost, and Gwendolyn Brooks
Why read poems? What can the greatest American poets tell us about the things that matter most? Edward Hirsch, the celebrated author of The Heart of American Poetry and How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry, returns for a new Library of America course exploring the transformative language, ideas, and emotions that animate American poetry and connect it to our everyday lives.
Drawing on selections from The Heart of American Poetry and other LOA editions, the course will look at standout works in our poetic tradition—by Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg and Gwendolyn Brooks, Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, and many others—to consider how they address four enduring themes: the hope of America, war and violence, love and death, and the sacred.
Leading each session, Hirsch offers expert and illuminating insights into remarkable poems that have defined the American voice in poetry. An acclaimed poet, scholar, and champion of poetry with a unique ability to communicate his passion and knowledge to readers of all backgrounds, Hirsch is a best-selling author and president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Of his previous online course for LOA, one attendee wrote, “I’ve never been in a class with a finer teacher.”
How to Read an American Poem
with Edward Hirsch
Four sessions: March 10, 17, 24, and 31
Sessions will be held weekly on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. ET. The class will also be recorded and shared with registrants to watch anytime.
Or go to: rebrand.ly/HirschPoetry
Registration fee: $200 (includes a coupon for 40% off selected LOA poetry volumes)
LOA Members get the special members’ rate of $150 (25% off). Learn more about the perks of becoming an LOA Member.
Sessions will take place on Zoom and last 75 minutes. Attendees are encouraged to share questions in advance and during the class. Edward Hirsch will send a follow-up e-mail after each meeting with reflections on the class discussion, suggestions for further reading, and a recording of the full session. Space is limited and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
SCHOLARSHIPS
If the cost to attend this program presents a hardship to you, we are pleased to offer a number of scholarship places at a reduced rate. For more information and to request a tuition waiver, please e-mail support@loa.org.
If you would like to support Library of America’s online programming and help sponsor a reduced-rate scholarship for a deserving student or teacher, please consider making a $50 donation at checkout on Eventbrite or reach out to support@loa.org.
Course registrants will receive a coupon for 40% off any of the following books.
Edward Hirsch: The Heart of American Poetry
Walt Whitman: Poetry & Prose
Walt Whitman: Selected Poems
Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass: The Complete 1855 and 1891-92 Editions
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song
Hart Crane: Complete Poems & Selected Letters
The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks
American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century (boxed set)
American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, Volume One: Freneau to Whitman
American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, Volume Two: Melville to Stickney, American Indian Poetry, Folk Songs and Spirituals
American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume One: Henry Adams to Dorothy Parker
American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume Two: E.E. Cummings to May Swenson
Edna St. Vincent Millay: Selected Poems
Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays
Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose, & Letters
American Poetry: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetry & Prose
Please note: Due to the high cost of international delivery, we are unable to ship books outside the US and its territories.
