Modern Poetry This course will examine the nature and achievement of the major modern poets of Britain and America during the modern period, beginning with the origins of poetic modernism in the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman. The central figures to be studied are William Butler Yeats, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, and W.H. Auden. The course will conclude with a look at some after-echoes of modernism in the work of Elizabeth Bishop and others. Two papers, one exam, with occasional oral presentations in class

The Structure of Poetry  This course is a workshop for beginning students in the field of creative writing. Students will read a selection of poems each week and write their own poems, producing a portfolio of their work at the end of the term. There will be an emphasis on revision. Students will be introduced to a range of forms as well, including prose poems, epistles, the tanka, the long poem, and the sonnet.

Advanced Fiction Workshop Study and practice in techniques of fiction writing through workshops and readings in short fiction and novels. Class discussions will be based on student manuscripts and published model works. Emphasis will be placed on composition and revision. (Approval required; please email a writing sample to cohen@middlebury.edu) (Formerly ENAM 0370) (Any 100-level CRWR course) (This course is not a college writing course) 3 hrs. sem

This course is an advanced workshop for students who have already done some work in poetry and are committed to the challenge of continued artistic development. Students will write a new poem each week, and revise at least eight of these for inclusion in a final chapbook project. Readings will include craft essays as well as several recent poetry collections by writers such as Hanif Abdurraqib and Natalie Diaz. Students must have completed (CRWR 0170 or CRWR 0175 and instructor approval).

Workshop: Poetry This course is an advanced workshop for students who have already done some work in poetry and are committed to the challenge of continued artistic development. Students will write a new poem each week, and revise at least eight of these for inclusion in a final chapbook project. Readings will include craft essays as well as several recent poetry collections by writers such as Hanif Abdurraqib and Natalie Diaz. (any 100-level CRWR course and Instructor Approval).

Batter My Heart: Religious Poetry from the Psalms to Mary Oliver In this seminar we will look closely at some of the major religious poets (broadly defined to include a variety of traditions) in the course of English and American poetry from the 17th century writers John Donne and George Herbert to the contemporary American poet Mary Oliver. Major figures will look at include Donne, Herbert, Wordsworth, Hopkins, Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Charles Wright, and Mary Oliver.   There will be prose selections from various poets and spiritual writers, including Emerson.

Poetry and the Spiritual Tradition In this course we will examine the long and intimate connection between poetry and spirituality, looking especially at the influence of Christian thinking on such English and American poets as John Donne, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and T.S. Eliot. The course will begin with a study of the King James Version of the Book of Psalms, which deeply affected later British and American poetry. We will also read early Taoist and Islamic poets, including Lao Tse and Rumi. The course will conclude with a look at the work of several contemporary poets: Charles Wright, Louis Glück, and Mary Oliver. While this course is primarily online, on-campus students will have opportunities to meet in person with fellow students and the professor in small groups and during office hours, if circumstances allow. Off-campus students will be accommodated with additional optional online opportunities to connect. 3 hrs. lct.

Jay Parini

Reviews and ratings for Jay Parini at Middlebury College.Jay Parini teaches Modern Poetry, Structure of Poetry, Advanced Fiction Workshop and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Jay Parini good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

Jay Parini is a gem. He knows everyone in the literary world and spends the whole class telling stories. We had zero homework and 2 super short essays. Although he is retiring you should definitely seek him out on campus (he will be around).

This was a very easy course. I learned more about poetry in high school AP Lit, but being taught by Jay Parini was an experience in itself. He's very passionate and knowledgable and a highly entertaining lecturer. 

least work you'll ever do for a course and most fun you'll ever have just sitting listening to a professor talk. lectures on modern poetry are offered up in equal measure to meandering stories about parini's life/career. you'll be entertained, at the very least, and might even learn a thing or two about poetry while you're at it.