Musical Muses: Writing Through Music

T.R. Hummer writes, “[T]he poet is considered the musician of writers — which means that however inexpressible the relation may be, the poet’s job is to reassemble what so often presents itself as a broken primal unity.” Music in writing is engrained into literature through subtle techniques and imitation of forms, so what does it mean to write a “little song” or sonetto? How do you write a Blues Haiku? What does writing a collection dedicated to the late John Coltrane mean? How does utilizing music as the force for thoughts further push your resonance with readers? We will examine how writers like Sonia Sanchez, Michael S. Harper, Terrence Hayes, Jericho Brown, and Hanif Abdurraqib utilize music and musical forms to create their poetry and creative non-fiction.

As a genre, through the lens of poetics, we will craft language that tackles music in its sonic elements and build our understanding of form. As a subject, we will examine how writers have tackled music through poetry and non-fiction essays centered around music. As an experience, we will engage in various writing sessions to build our repertoire for music-based writing. Through these explorations, we will create a deeper understanding of creativity in music. During the first three sessions, we will discuss how established writers imbue music into their craft and generate our own work. The last session will focus on workshopping our pieces and reflecting on how music informs and enhances our writing.

Instructor

Glen Waters (He/him) is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He was born in Dallas, Texas. Glen is a Napa Valley Writers Conference John Leggit scholarship recipient, Kansas University Black Book Interactive Project Intro to Digital Humanities Fellow, and adjunct professor at the University of Iowa teaching creative writing and African American studies. Glen’s work can be found in Poetry South, Howard University’s The Amistad, and Stephen F. Austin’s Journal of Multicultural Affairs.