You are invited to join University of Pennsylvania's
Kelly Professor of English
and Faculty
Director of the Kelly Writers House, Al Filreis, for a two-night,
three-day
You are invited to join University of Pennsylvania's
Kelly Professor of English
and Faculty
Director of the Kelly Writers House, Al Filreis, for a two-night,
three-day
 |
| the Straus Estate at Frost Valley |
Located in the pristine forests at the base of Slide Mountain, Frost Valley
(www.frostvalley.org) features
meadows, ponds, cascading waterfalls, and
world-renowned trout streams, creating an idyllic background for the study
of verse. The Straus Estate at Frost Valley is a lovely renovated home
situated in a beautiful field just a few feet from the East Branch of the
Neversink River. The cost for the course, lodging in the Straus House, all
meals and all recreational activities is just $300 (if you lodge in a
double room) or $410 (for a single). The number of participants is
limited to 20. For more about Straus,
see
www.frostvalley.org/lodging/StrausCenter.htm.
Seminar participants arrive Monday morning, June 23, and
 |
| April 2002 participants. Click on the picture for a larger view. |
The workshop will feature a discussion of the poetry of erica kaufman,
and she will join us
for our discussion on June 24.
We will also read and discuss poems by
a wide range of modern and contemporary American poets. While this is
not a writing workshop per se, participants
have
the option of doing their own writing in response to the poetry studied.
Each year Professor Filreis teaches this non-credit mini-course pro
bono.
Frost
Valley is a non-profit organization devoted to outdoor education.
About Al Filreis:
a specialist in modern and contemporary American poetry and the literary
politics of the American
1930s and 1950s, he has published an edition of
Wallace Stevens's correspondence with
Jose Rodriguez Feo (Secretaries of the
Moon,
1986), two books on American poetry,
articles on modern poetry and painting and on
cold-war literary politics. Stevens and
the Actual World was published by Princeton
University Press in 1991. Another book,
Modernism from Right to Left, was
published in
1994 by Cambridge
University Press. His new edition of Ira
Wolfert's Tucker's People
has been published by Illinois. His most recent book,
a literary
history of the idea of modernism in the American
1950s called Counter-revolution of the Word was released in January, 2008,
and
is about the conservatives'
attempt to destroy the modernist avant-garde in the anticommunist period after
World War II. Aside from teaching modern
American poetry, he
has offered a series of courses on
twentieth-century American
decades, and another on the literature of the
Holocaust.
He is a winner of the Lindback Award, and the Ira Abrams Award, and was
chosen as
the 1999 Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation.
Since 1995 he has been the Faculty Director of the Kelly Writers House on Penn's
campus, and since 2003 he has been the director of the
Center for Programs in
Contemporary Writing.
About erica kaufman:
erica is the author of several
chapbooks including:censory impulse (big game books, 2007), civilization
day (open24hours, 2007), and a familiar album (winner of the 2003 New
School University Chapbook Contest). erica is also the co-curator/co-publisher
of Belladonna*/Belladonna Books, a small press and reading series that promotes
the work of women writers who are adventurous, experimental, politically
involved, multi-form, multicultural, multi-gendered, impossible to define,
delicious to talk about, unpredictable, dangerous with language.
Watch a brief video of the 2006 retreat: video (2:37).
2006 participants (click on the image for a photo)
2004 participants (click on the image for two photos)
2003 participants (click on the image for a larger view)
2002 participants discuss John Ashbery in the field in front of the Straus
house
three Some Trees'ers celebrate birthdays together
"The three days I spend at Frost Valley in the SomeTrees seminar is the
part of my year that integrates the intellectual, the creative and the
spiritual parts of my life.We are indeed all engaged in lifelong
learning.'--Conni Bille
"The few days at Frost Valley were wonderful for me. I had been feeling
overburdened and distracted in general. Those three days were like a
different world. I think people become better somehow in that environment.
And the opportunity to be there and to concentrate on poetry did create
magical moments.
On a more practical level, it's hard to believe that there is so much
clean air so close to New York.
Anyway, even I wrote a poem when I got back, before reverting to my more
prosaic self...
That you have to read poetry to write it, is true. I immediately
understood, on a deeper level, what poets are trying to, and in the case
of what we read, did, accomplish."--Liz Seeley
"For me Some Trees is a true retreat. I do not retreat to vegetate in the
sun - I don't like the feeling of emptiness when I return to the details
of my daily life. I prefer to stretch myself, to test my limits. Sometimes
it is to challenge myself physically. Sometimes it is to dig deep into my
spirituality. Sometimes it is academic and cerebral. And then there is
Some Trees, three days and nights that encompass all of these
possibilities in the most enjoyable way. I will not wax poetic about our
marvelous leader. Suffice it to say that he has brought us the best poets
from whom to learn, given us the loveliest environment for discourse and
contemplation, enthusiastically led us outdoors to remind us what a
wonderful world this is, and most of all, gathered us together to be
enriched by each other. I took some heat for being out of the office for
half the week, and it was worth every raised eyebrow."--Carol Clapp
"When I decided to come to the Some Trees poetry retreat, I didn't really
come with any expectations at all. However, I am certain that this retreat
was a distinct and important three days for everyone who attended. Al
Filreis did a terrific and thoughtful job of organizing and planning this
event. Everyone was encouraged to participate in all discussions, and Al
made sure that everyone felt comfortable and that everyone's voice was
heard. I thoroughly enjoyed the serious study of Tom Devaney's poetry and
then discussing it with him in the comfort of a living room, in front of a
roaring fire. But mainly, I was so impressed with the respect, trust, and
honesty fostered among the participants who spanned from graduating Penn
in 1949 to preparing to graduate in spring 2006. What a special treat. And
what an excellent reflection on the depth of a Penn education."--Emily
Missner
"I have attended the Frost Valley poetry retreat now on two occasions and
found the experience to be very powerful. For me, it is not specifically
the content of what we're learning (though I love reading and writing
poetry) as much as the experience of how we learn - the opening up of
possibilities. I find in some ways I pass through my adult life
uncritically - the Frost Valley experience is so important for me because
it forces me to confront myself. In the process of breaking down the poems
and discussing them we learn to question ideas and think about how we
understand and represent the world. The exercise has been enormously
moving and productive for me."--Maggie Katz
praise for "Some Trees":