A List Is a Letter: Techniques for Creating the Catalog Poem with Jessie McCarty

This course will consider how lists, order, and memory function in poetry. We’ll seek to inquire, interrogate, and build an understanding of writing the “catalog poem.”

Writers will consider modes of listing—ranging from the diary, to-do lists, planners, archives, and even receipts to capture narrative, structure, and reflection in their poetry practice. Writers will be encouraged to keep a list of notes throughout the course to share with the class, along with current reading lists, aspirations, and references. We’ll workshop students’ pieces and give each other written and oral feedback. We will read aloud, and collaborate as a class to answer the question, Is this poem a catalog? Is the list a poem?

We will consider the writings of George Perec, Moyra Davey, Susan Howe, Chen Chen, and CA Conrad, with videos from Agnes Varda and Moyra Davey, respectively.

Reading and video materials will be given two weeks before the course.

Course Outline

Session I: Introductions – What is a Catalog? What is a List? (On Susan Howe, Georges Perec), Making the List Personal: Discussions on Personal Diary and the Research Process (On Moyra Davey, Agnes Varda, Chen Chen).

Session II: Writings About Critical Cataloging and Subject Headings (On Emily Drabinski, Cataloging Structures, Group Collaboration). Finalizing Your Catalog Poem (An Index is Nothing But a Public Diary).

Capacity: 20