Read with Me: Sleeping with the Dictionary by Harryette Mullen

Mullen is known for mixing unexpected elements in her books, and this one is no exception. This difficult-to-summarize genre-bender, which was a National Book Award finalist, brings together modes that don’t often meet: language games such as those from the playful French avant-garde group Oulipo with contemporary political critique highly relevant to current everyday American conversations. Readers describe it as inspiring a new appreciation for prose poetry and as being “ROFL funny.” Sleeping with the Dictionary is a must-read for those who dismiss experimental art as being removed from real life, and also for formalists who believe that strangeness means a lack of rigor. Though, as The Rumpus says, these poems are “naughty rule-breaking things, messy and eclectic by design,” Mullen’s colleague Stephen Yenser points out that she is also “deeply traditional.” A number of reviewers laud Mullen for her “serious play:” there is a fun surface, but also substance.

Mullen is currently a professor at UCLA where she teaches African-American Literature and creative writing.

Course includes 6 instructor-led online forum discussions focused on poetic craft (in our private course area, with each lesson’s kickoff post sent to your email), four small-group peer-led Zoom calls, prompts for creating your own imitations / poetic responses, and an ongoing class forum where you can interact with other participants. There will be a lot of material and options provided: how deeply you want to participate will be up to you.

Cost: $50, plus cost of book

Instructor: Meg Hartmann

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