Category Archives: Poetry 2 / EN6043 (5 credits)

Mythology and Contemporary Poetry

Poetry 2 invites a close study of the ongoing persistence and creative value of mythology in modern poetry. Every week we will look at a myth/traditional narrative and how contemporary poetry responds to the imaginative, political, and personal dimensions that that myth still conveys in contemporary poetry. Among the poets studied will be Jorie Graham, Paula Meehan, Seamus Heaney, Czeslaw Milosz, Eavan Boland, and Eilean Ni Chuilleanain. Informing myths will be Ceres and Persephone, Diana and Acteon, scenes from The Odyssey, and others. The course will culminate in a weekend trip to the Beara Peninsula, to visit ancient sites such as the Hag of Beara, the gravesite of the Children of Lir, and Teach Donn (the gateway to the Celtic Underworld)

Writing the Self: Fiction & Non-Fiction / EN6033 (10 credits)

Memoir, biography and autobiography constitute some of the most dynamic and exciting forms of life writing and this module introduces students to advanced level study of theories and practice around the writing of biography and memoir, by locating key examples in literature and culture from writers such as Wilde, Proust, McGahern, Sage, O’Faolain and others. It allows students to explore the creative practices around their own use of memoir and memory recall, within the genres of poetry, fiction and other forms of writing and, week by week, draws on a variety of techniques to open out this vital element within the imagination.