Words matter. The right word, the right place. Do we need “fancy” language to make poems stunningly beautiful, evocative? Not at all.
Sometimes plain language gets poems all dressed up for the party. Wilbur and Bishop knew how to give us the EXPERIENCE of poetry by using “regular” language in their poetry. We will look closely at how they did that.
We will read and discuss poems by these two masters of diction and see what they do to make their poems unforgettable, timeless, and always relevant. We will take a look at the way these two poets capture and hold our attention by the use of language available to all of us all the time.
A recommended reading list will be provided, along with a comprehensive set of handouts (poems) mailed out each Sunday for the week’s reading. This is a discussion course. No writing will be required.
Instructor Carol Willette Bachofner, poet, photographer, and watercolorist, served as Poet Laureate of Rockland, Maine from 2012 to 2016. She is the author of eight books of poetry. Every Place I Look: Women With Embers at Their Feet, was released on November 19, 2025 from Main Street Rag.
Bachofner considers Wilbur and Bishop to be her poetry “parents.” Their work is always at her desk as she writes. She has studied both poets extensively and is writing a book on how Wilbur’s poetry influences her own poetic practice. In 2012, she interviewed Wilbur in person at his studio in Cummington, MA. The interview was an exploration of his views on word choice, intentionality, and purpose. She says: “I am in awe of that BIG BRAIN, that fabulous vocabulary.”