The Depth of Myth, the Freedom of Mask – Marie Howe

Poets and writers sometimes enter other stories in order to more deeply investigate their own. Some look to the old stories in the ancient books of the Torah, the Bible, or the Koran – and in characters as complex as Eve, or Cain, or Abraham, or Isaac, Lot, Mary, or Mary Magdalene. Some look to stories encountered in the Greek myths, in characters like Persephone, or Narcissus, or Echo, or to Fairy Tales, with their sleeping princesses and wolves and stepmothers and witches. These archetypes are complex and roomy. By wearing the mask of a character we feel drawn to, we are able to investigate our own bewilderments with more freedom. By imagining the plight of a persona we inhabit we might find ourselves writing into the unknown, and writing into the unknown often brings illumination, joy, and understanding.

Through a series of writing prompts, (and inspired by examples) we will choose one or two or a series of characters we know from old stories or myths and write our way into what we didn’t know. We will have a wonderful time.

Marie Howe is the author of four volumes of poetry: Magdalene: Poems (W.W. Norton, 2017); The Kingdom of Ordinary Time (W.W. Norton, 2009); What the Living Do (1997); and The Good Thief (1988). She is also the co-editor of essays, In the Company of My Solitude: American Writing from the AIDS Pandemic (1994). She was New York State Poet Laureate from 2012-2014.