Christine Kitano: Where the Persona Poem Meets Research – Aesthetic and Historical Demands (January 2018)

In this lecture Christine Kitano considers how to address historical and aesthetic challenges when writing persona poems, particularly when those personae are historically marginalized speakers. How does the poet balance the necessities of presenting the historical contexts with creating a dramatic arc? How does the poet, in the span of a brief lyric or narrative sequence, create a full and responsive voice? Examples by Rita Dove, Garrett Hongo, Lori Ann Roripaugh, and others illustrate a range of approaches.