Karl J. Sherlock
Associate Professor, English
Email: karl.sherlock@gcccd.edu
Office Hours: M-Th 4-5:30
Phone: 619-644-7871
This section of the website will hold the weekly Poetastering Exercises. Each week, a new exercise will become available in the menu at left.
The word "poetaster" sometimes carries a pejorative (i.e., negative) connotation: it suggests someone who "fools around" with poetry and doesn't take it very seriously. I encourage fooling around with poetry and having fun with it before committing to a more serious poem project. A creative mind should play with language, ideas, and literary style to "get a feel" for the more emotionally and psychologically committed task of writing a poem. It's like getting wet before you go into the swimming pool, to acclimate yourself to the water.
Each week, then, we'll have "poetastering" exercises to engage you in the attitude and practice of writing poems. Afterward, these can be used to inspire your responses to the primary writing assignments, but poetastering exercises won't be graded or evaluated. Consider them a form of pre-writing and invention.
Karl J. Sherlock
Associate Professor, English
Email: karl.sherlock@gcccd.edu
Office Hours: M-Th 4-5:30
Phone: 619-644-7871
