Breaking the Little Song: Subverting the Sonnet Form explores how contemporary poets are reshaping a form that originated in 13th-century Italy as a vessel for love poems. Once rigid in rhyme and structure, the sonnet now offers fertile ground for innovation and resistance—what Terrance Hayes calls "part music box, part meat grinder." In this workshop, participants will study examples of subverted sonnets and experiment with transforming the form to suit their own voices and urgencies. Through guided writing exercises and discussion, we’ll break open the “little song” and reimagine what a sonnet can be.
