Workshop: Rick Chess
“The word verse,” writes Edward Hirsch in A Poet’s Glossary, “is traditionally thought to derive from the Latin versus, meaning a ‘line,’ ‘row,’ or ‘furrow.’ The metaphor of ‘plough’ for ‘write’ thus dates to antiquity. Verse may alternately derive from the Latin vertere, ‘to turn.’”
Turning and returning: these are also essential moves for Jewish people, especially during the ten Days of Awe, bookended by Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and preceded by the month of Elul on the Hebrew calendar. During this period, Jewish people are called upon to reflect on ways we have missed the mark–in our personal and communal lives–over the last year and to commit to redirecting our efforts to living in a way that is intended to be of benefit to ourselves and others. The process we engage in throughout the holiday season is called teshuvah, turning, or, as commonly translated, repenting.
In this exploratory, generative workshop, we’ll look at a few of the ways poems turn–from line to line, phrase to phrase, word to word, maybe even syllable to syllable. We’ll practice making similar turns in a few lines of our own. And we’ll invite ourselves to look for ways–subtle and bold–we might make some turns in our own lives as we head into the High Holiday period. Richard Howard, as cited by Hirsch, has said, “process proceeds, verse reverses.” Through this workshop, in addition to writing and rewriting a few lines (who knows, maybe even a draft of an entire poem!) we may find an area in our lives which would benefit from a reversal.
- September 15, 2024; 2-4:30 EST
- Handouts will be sent with the texts to be discussed
- Student Limit: 20 participants
$90—standard registration
$74—18% discounted registration for Yetzirah Members (you can become a member here)
*As we want our offerings to be accessible to all, there is a pay-what-you-can option if this pricing is a hardship.
Richard Chess is the author of four books of poetry, Love Nailed to the Doorpost (University of Tampa Press 2017), Tekiah (University of Georgia Press 1996; republished by University of Tampa Press 2000); Chair in the Desert (University of Tampa Press 2000); and Third Temple (University of Tampa Press 2006). His poems have been anthologized in Telling and Remembering: A Century of American Jewish Poetry, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, Bearing Witness: Twenty Years of Image Journal, and elsewhere. His work has also been included in Best American Spiritual Writing 2005. His essays have been included in Stars Shall Bend Their Voices: Poets’ Favorite Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 27 Views of Asheville, Far from the Center of Ambition, and elsewhere. New poems have recently been published or are forthcoming in The Sun, Pensive, Vita Poetica, and in Revisiting the Rothko Chapel, a book of scholarly and creative reflections on “the intersecting spiritual and aesthetic dimensions that give the Rothko Chapel its great power.” He is a regular contributor to Close Reading, the blog hosted by Slant Books. He was a member of the core arts faculty at the Brandeis Bardin Institute for three years, after which he was on the faculty of the Jewish Arts Institute at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. He is Professor Emeritus at UNC Asheville. He directed UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies for 30 years. He also played a leading role in UNC Asheville’s contemplative inquiry initiative. He is the Treasurer of Yetzirah. Visit Rick’s profile in our Discover Jewish Poets database.
Though we encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience, all sessions will be recorded and sent to participants.