Over the course of the past semester, my friends in “Introductory Poetry Workshop” and I have traveled up to Bennington College several times to sit in on poetry readings in order to fulfill the course’s requirement of attending at least three literary events. The requirement intends for students to listen to masters of the craft and hear their work recited live — and it’s a great idea. It’s moving to hear poets recite their own pieces. Poetry-centered events not only allow students to witness the transformative vision of a poetic project but also facilitate engagement with experienced poets who have navigated similar challenges in their creative processes, such as creating routines for writing while studying as undergraduates.
The problem is that there simply aren’t enough poetry events on our own campus for students to attend in order to fulfill the requirement. In fact, the College is failing to provide adequate resources in general for students interested in poetry.
It’s a frustrating reality that sufficient opportunities to hear from poets can’t be found on campus. Among the event options given to my class, most were held at Bennington, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, or the Clark Art Institute. Only two literary-adjacent events on campus could have met this requirement: an immersive show at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance and a conversation with a visiting professor of English. As such, students in the workshop arranged to go to off-campus readings together.
Despite the liberal arts’ commitment to fostering creative writing, the College lacks proper poetry programming. There is hardly any space carved out specifically for poetic expression. The only writing prize for poetry falls under the Dunbar Prize for Writing, which also accepts submissions for journalistic pieces, personal essays, and creative-writing. Visiting poets do not often come to the College for readings of new work. This lack of programming limits opportunities for students looking to engage with and be inspired by poetry on campus — and also creates challenges for students like myself who have a requirement to fulfill.
During “Introductory Poetry Workshop,” I felt that I could immerse myself in poetry as a sustainable creative practice and perhaps even work toward a creative writing thesis in poetry. However, beyond the “Advanced Poetry Workshop,” I was disheartened to find that the College offers little support to students who wish to continue growing as poets. My hopes thus far have been quashed.
The College needs to allocate more funding towards supporting poetry on campus. In 2018, the English department drafted a proposal, co-signed by the comparative literature department, as well as numerous faculty members, for a “Williams Literary Arts and Humanities Series” — but it never materialized due to lack of enthusiasm from the College’s administration, Associate Professor of English Jessica Fisher told me recently. The proposal also called for the creation of a small interdisciplinary committee and a part-time program coordinator to oversee a revitalized poetry curriculum, which would allow for a targeted focus on poetry and to better equip students passionate about the form.
Fisher also told me that the English department used to use surplus funds to host prominent poets on campus; when that funding dwindled, so too did the events. I acknowledge that budgets are complicated, but an institution like Williams should prioritize funding these events to stimulate creativity among its students and enrich campus literary culture.
At peer institutions such as Amherst, Colby, and Bates, for example, programming dedicated to poetry abounds. Bennington’s annual “Poetry at Bennington” series is now in its 14th year. The poetry series involves a variety of different events, such as discussions on craft, interactive seminars, and writing exercises. These events can do wonders for students hoping to pursue creative writing. At Smith, the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center organizes year-round reading events, inviting both emerging and acclaimed poets to share their work with students.
Kenyon also has a “Poetry in April” event where poets come to campus and perform their work, along with poetry potluck events where students bring poems to workshop as a group. Williams could — and should — do something similar.
Despite the College’s comparative lack of events, the introductory workshop is heavily over-enrolled. The interest is there. Notably, though, it is the only introductory-level poetry writing course available at the College. Through the workshop, I have discovered poetry as a self-revelatory and self-appraisive medium. I’ve found myself diving into nonlinear narratives and leaning into fragmentation, becoming more attuned to my creative inclinations. Creative writing as a whole needs a stronger presence on campus, bolstered by courses exploring newer, avant-garde forms of poetic expression and experimenting with multimedia and digital forms.
Poetry events do not necessarily have to be long, drawn-out series spanning months. The College can encourage increased engagement with poetry on campus in a variety of forms. The English department could organize events in collaboration with the Clark, which already invites writers to conversations as part of its “Writers at the Clark” series. Slam poetry competitions could also be attractive to students looking for a way to address pressing political and social issues. A separate prize for poetry apart from the Dunbar would also prove instrumental toward cultivating a distinct space for poetry as a discipline. Such a prize could encourage students not traditionally interested in poetry to connect with the creative arts.
Poetry needs more space on campus: Students need to be supported by the College in their creative pursuits, and the College, in turn, needs distinct creative writing programming to bolster its reputation for an excellent liberal arts education.
Fajr Rauf ’28 is from Lahore, Pakistan.
