ENROLL HERE! ** ModPo is a fast-paced introduction to modern and contemporary U.S. poetry, with an emphasis on experimental verse, from Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to the present. Participants (who need no prior...
Our beloved ModPo communitarian C.J. Prince left us not too long ago. A group of C.J.’s ModPo friends have gotten together to create a montage group reading/performance in her memory. The project has been...
Here is the schedule of weekly live webcasts for ModPo 2026 (the symposium mode, from early September though mid-November): Week 1 – Wed 9/2 – noonWeek 2 – Wed 9/9 – 10 AMWeek 3...
Here is a single link to YouTube that will take you to all the livestreams for the weekly interactive webcasts we will host during ModPo 2026 (early September through mid-November):
You might recall that ModPo and the Kelly Writers House hosted a weekend poetry retreat back in April—at Frost Valley in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. The spaces reserved for that weekend...
Richard Owens has provided us with the transcribed text of Helen Adam’s “The Shoe Song,” which was collected in the book titled The Elfin Pedlar. He also shared with us a photograph of the...
During week 2 of ModPoPLUS, we read and discuss a poem by Hannah Sanghee Park that appeared in her book The same-different (LSU Press, 2015). Park earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop...
Ken Paul Rosenthal visited the Kelly Writers House in part to discuss Julia Vinograd’s poem “Why I Write Poetry.” You can watch that discussion HERE. And here, below, is the text of the poem:
In 2025 this poem was featured in one of the essay assignments for ModPo.
Here is the text of Laura Riding’s poem “Mouth.” We discuss that poem HERE in a video filmed at the Kelly Writers House.
In early October, the ModPo team will be traveling to Manchester, UK. As usual, we will be filming discussions with poets about various poems—in this case, Manchester and Manchester-affiliated poets and poems. The poems...
NOTE: All times given are Eastern U.S. Time. Click HERE to watch any of our 2025 webcasts.
Week 1 – Wed 9/2 – noon
Week 2 – Wed 9/9 – 10 AM
Week 3 – Wed 9/16 – 3 PM
Week 4 – Wed 9/23 – noon (w/ Ron Silliman)
Week 5 – Thursday 10/1 (in Manchester) 6:30 local time
Week 6 – Wed 10/7 – 3 PM
Week 7 – Wed 10/14 – 3 PM (w/ Anne Waldman)
Week 8 – Wed 10/21 – noon (w/ Bob Perelmant)
Week 9 – Wed 10/28 – 10 AM
Week 10 – Wed 11/4 – 3 PM (w/ Emily Skillings & Mark Nowak)
Final Words – Monday 11/9 – noon
Yes, you can take ModPo for University of Pennsylvania credit. A 10-week session is offered each year fall. This version of ModPo is taught by ModPo coordinator Laynie Browne. Click HERE for all the info you need. Contact Laynie with questions at modpo@writing.upenn.edu.
ModPo has created a Teacher Resource Center (“TRC“) for teachers who use ModPo poems & videos in their classrooms. Click HERE to read teaching guides and watch videos in which teachers talk about teaching with ModPo. If you wish to be added to our teachers mailing list, write us at modpo@writing.upenn.edu. Click HERE to discuss ModPo poems with other teachers.
