Black Lens/Black Lines: Cinematic Movement (ENGLISH 162B)

This is a class not only on the craft of writing poetry but also on the craft of thinking visually and understanding film form. On a craft level, we will explore film and examine ways in which artistic problems can be solved on a cinematic, visual level, and, ultimately, how they may be translated into the forms and the craft of poetry. At the same time, we will examine ways in which the disciplines of poetry and film can inform each other. We will explore the structure of film and see how that has changed our visual IQs over time as spectators. Beyond that, we will look at film from the Black diaspora and models of African and African American poetry that will serve as craft models of form. This is a Creative Writing course, crosslisted with an African & African American Studies course.