We rarely hear painters or musicians talk about the loneliness of the creative life, yet for writers, it’s an assumed part of the job. Collaborating with a writing partner offers benefits beyond companionship; it allows us to discover new ways of approaching art and telling our stories. In this Olio, we will read a range of collaborative poems—from French Surrealist to the Beat Generation to contemporary poets—to see how writers of the genre maintain their own aesthetic even as they create a unified voice. We will spend part of the class discussing collaborative poems and part working on our own collaborative poems (so bring pen and paper!).