Reading Groups: Camille Guthrie's Diamonds
Dear Readers,
Guided Poetry Book Groups are my new offering: facilitated sessions for committed poetry readers and writers who wish to engage in a practice of reading more deeply, creatively, and intentionally.
Each month, I guide small groups through a close reading of a current book of poetry—books that are overlooked and underrated; books that have something important to tell us about what it is to be alive today.
This brief post is a catalyst for discussion for Camille Guthrie’s Diamonds. This thread is a place for members of the reading group to answer the questions I’ve posed and to pose questions of their own. And though it’s intended for members of the reading group, I welcome comments from anyone committed to a deeper, more intentional reading of this important book.
I’m including a few reflections below to kick us off.
I’m going to announce the next round of reading groups in late October. Send me an email if you’d like to be notified when registration opens for the January 2023 cycle.
Sean
Discussion Prompts: Diamonds
What do you think is the right question to be asking, right now, about feminism and poetry?
What are you asking yourself about feminism and poetry?
What are you asking of poetry, and of yourself?
How does Diamonds take on the topics of “mid-life crisis” and divorce?
Think about the ways you think about these things have changed over the time from when-you-started-writing-poems to right now. Where does “the real” go in your poems?
How does Guthrie think about the difference between irony and sincerity, or the ways those might be in tension and balance with one another throughout a poem?