This dissertation consists of an original collection of poetry by D. Gregory Griffith and an essay on the role of imagination in poetry written in creative writing workshops. The poems are about a character called the Blues Buddha, a figure situated somewhere between myth and cartoon. The Blues Buddha is part Buddha and part tenor saxophone player. His mission is to understand the unique suffering of the contemporary, western world and to offer enlightenment(most frequently through the sound of his horn). The essay examines the writing process, the place of the workshop, and the problem of accessing the imagination or teaching students to access the imagination.
