Lifelong Learning in the Lifelong Poem

Abstract

Extensive written and oral discourses already exist about my two key topics in this chapter: masculinity and the contemporary long poem. There is even a growing body of work, certainly in the international academy, which tentatively links and explores the two topics. What is lacking, however, and what this chapter seeks in its own way to address, is pedagogic reflection on how more meaningfully to learn from, teach and deliver such material. I should state at the outset that this chapter draws heavily on two specific teaching moments: the first belongs to Professor Cairns Craig who delivered the Long Poem MA module at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom in 1992, and the second goes to Prof. PhDr. Jaroslav Machacek at Palacky University in the Czech Republic who enabled my own Modern Long Poem module in 1995–1996. Part 1, below, focuses on masculinities in various contemporary long poem texts themselves. Part 2, concerning experiential pedagogy, is derived from the modules named above.