POETRY CAN RE-ENCHANT THE WORLD
A SEMINAR ON GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
facilitated by Prof. Katie Peterson
Gerard Manley Hopkins is famous for writing poems where joy and grief find indelible expression under pressure: “O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall / Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed.” He was a keen observer of the natural world and an astute recorder of everyday experience. Hopkins pushed the English language to its limits. He was also a Catholic convert.
In this seminar, we will read a selection of Hopkins’ most immediate, sensuous, and accessible poems. Together, we will consider how his poetry engages with beauty and the grotesque, spiritual desolation, devotion, and poetic form. Along the way, we’ll ask: Are ordinary things holy? Does God care if you notice beauty? Is wholeness a lie? Can poetry fix anything? What does it mean to relate to nature? On what terms is our enchantment possible?
This is a three-session seminar open to students, recent graduates (within 3 years of graduating), and faculty. We ask participants to attend all scheduled sessions of this seminar. RSVP is required.
Please reach out to info@binst.org with any questions.
Date: Mondays, October 20, 27, and November 3 from 5:30-6:45PM
Time: 5:30-6:45PM
Location: Berkeley Institute (2134 Allston Way, 2nd floor)
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Session 1: The Ordinary: Stuffing a Poem with Life
Monday, October 20 from 5:30 - 6:45 P.M.
The Ordinary: Stuffing a Poem with Life
Reading: “Spring,” “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” -
Session 2: Absent Presences: Saying No and Yes
Monday, October 27 from 5:30 - 6:45 P.M.
Reading: The “Terrible Sonnets” -
Session 3: Wholeness: The Broken Form of the Sonnet
Monday, November 3 from 5:30 - 6:45 P.M.
Reading: “The Windhover”
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Professor Katie Peterson
Professor of English at the University of California, Davis where she teaches poetry workshops and courses on contemporary literature. She is the author of seven books of poetry, including This One Tree, Permission, The Accounts, and her most recent collection, Fog and Smoke. She received a PhD in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Institute.