Poetry in the World

The aim of this microseminar is to celebrate and engage with the work of Jahan Ramazani (University of Virginia), the Katz Lecturer for Spring 2025 and one of the world’s preeminent comparatists. To facilitate a dialogue surrounding international poetics and the study of literature in general, we will sample his critical writings, which span postcolonial, transnational, and global poetry, and discuss the past and the future of poetry by investigating its various social, political, and cultural contexts and themes. Moreover, to help make Ramazani’s ideas come alive, each of our meetings will also include a close reading of a selected group of poets, among them Agha Shahid Ali, Paul Muldoon, Valzhyna Mort, Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Natalie Diaz, Louise Glück, Jorie Graham, and Craig Santos Perez. Given the recent launch of the Global Literary Studies (GLITS) major, this microseminar and Ramazani’s visit underscore UW’s commitment to the studying of cultures, languages, and literatures through the global lens. All readings in English.