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Course Description

Summary

Often, same-sex desire exists as the sole portrayal and determining factor of whether or not a text dwells in queerness. But the idea of queer has never been solely about same-sex desire or even sexual desire at all. Contrary to expectation, poets for years have written about revolutionary ways to exist in a society that has made the self-proclaimed orthodoxy of gender presentation and sexuality the rule. In this class, we will study poets who wrote not only about their desire outside of typical gender norms and social expectations thrown onto LGBTQ people, but also their desire for emotional freedom, political freedom, and artistic freedom. We will see how queer poets have always been on the forefront of tearing down barriers, including those that existed in the craft and study of poetry. Writers may include Essex Hemphill, Adrienne Rich, francine j harris, Cam Awkward Rich, Jos Charles, Mark Doty, Jericho Brown, Olga Broumas, Mark Wunderlich, DA Powell, Ely Shipley, Ari Banias, Melvin Dixon, Eloise Klein Healey, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Thom Gunn and others. Assignments may include weekly response papers, a midterm assignment, and final paper/project.