Expanding the Within: Poetry's Pull Through Cartooning, Music & Cinema
About this Event
Workshop dates
Tuesday, July 7, 2026, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Overview
In this three-part writing course, we’ll be studying how poets (or prose writers aspiring to lyricism) can draw inspiration from cartooning, music and cinema. We’ll be applying ideas from Lynda Barry, Barbara Deutsch, Jeff Tweedy, Patti Smith, Yasujirō Ozu and Andrei Tarkovsky, among others, to our writing. Each class will be a combination of free-writing, the introduction of central concepts from Lynda Barry and others, writing experiments (doodling, singing and a tiny bit of film-making with our phones) and a consideration of edits and craft in our own writing. There will be no workshopping but there will be plenty of writing and exposure to inspiring poetry and other art forms. Essentially, this course has us considering and exploring the ways we can draw inspiration from these other art forms.
Class #1 Cartooning—the line, the letter and the image
With ideas and readings from Lynda Barry, Renee Gladman, Betsy Warland, Robert Kroetsch, bp nichol and May Swenson
Class #2 Music—the recurring lyrical phrase
With ideas, songs and readings from Barbara Deutsch, Sandra Lim, Jeff Tweedy, Patti Smith and May Swenson
Class #3 Cinema—the synthesis and different types of shots and cuts
With ideas, videos and readings from Yasujirō Ozu, Andrei Tarkovsky, John Wall Barger and Tracy K. Smith
About Kevin Spenst
Kevin Spenst is the author of four full-length books of poetry including A Bouquet Brought Back From Space (Anvil Press, 2024) along with 16 chapbooks. He is one of the organizers of the Dead Poets Reading Series, has a chapbook review column for subTerrain magazine, and occasionally co-hosts "Wax Poetic" on Vancouver Co-op Radio. He lives in Vancouver on unceded Coast Salish territory, and is a mentor in the Writer’s Studio.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 111.72
