Reveling in Uncertainty: Embodying Negative Capability

The influence of John Keats on Emily Dickinson is well remarked on. One of the more interesting influences is through the concept of negative capability, which he identified as “…when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” A complex, slippery concept, negative capability opens up creative thinking in a productive way for writers of all level, whether by helping writers to trust the mysterious in their writing, to find surprising connections, or to live comfortably in the “gray” areas of life.

This workshop will navigate the concept of negative capability by looking at examples from Keats, Blake, Dickinson, Nick Cave, GennaRose Nethercott, Diana Koi Ngyuen, Tracy Smith, Jane Hirshfield, and others. Workshop leaders will provide writing prompts designed to enable participants to explore negative capability in their own work and lives, exercises to help cultivate it, and the opportunity to write an early draft of a poem that embodies the concept.

Both Joyce and Beverly have integrated negative capability into their own writing as well as into their teaching. Although the concept is complex, it provides a fruitful approach to any artistic endeavor and way of life, aiding writers in allowing for other possibilities. As practitioners of mindfulness and meditation, both facilitators are experienced in guiding students to be open to noticing, letting go of expectations, gathering in all ideas before judging them, and trusting that writing impasses may be resolved by resisting a forced or fixed solution.