The aim of the course is to gain a deeper understanding of writing contemporary poetry and of the techniques we might use while we are writing. This course is suitable for people who have never written a poem and for people who have written before but would like to discover some new ways to write and edit their poems.

By the end of the course, we will have looked at a number of ways to kick-start poems, including:

• Using free writing
• Using images and imaginary narratives to produce texts to edit
• Looking at the idea of ‘constraints’ in poetry – things that alter what we might have written, left to our own devices
• Looking at the work of contemporary poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Carson, Lee Harwood and others
• How we might use research in developing the idea of the poem
• Looking at how to deepen the intensity and music of our poems
• Writing rough drafts of several poems
• Using editing techniques to refine our rough drafts
• Enjoying hearing the poems we have written during the course, read aloud to the group and talking about them

By the end of the course, you will have developed a feel for looking dispassionately at the poems you have written - do they succeed as poems? Can you edit them to make them even better? What form have you chosen for them and why? What constraints did you use and what effect did that have on what you intended when you began to write?

Included

On this course the tutor will supply all of the materials, including handouts of poems and other handouts we will use during the course.

What students need to bring

• pen and paper or Laptop
• Highlighter

Additional information

Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).

Arrival day - first date of course
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm for registration  
Student welcome, followed by dinner: 6.45pm (dinner included)
Teaching session: 8pm-9pm (attendance is essential)

Daily timetable
Course teaching: 9.15am-5pm  
Morning session: 9.15am-12.45pm including coffee/tea break  
Lunch break: 12.45pm-2pm (lunch included)  
Afternoon session: 2pm-5pm including coffee/tea break  
Teaching finishes: 5pm    
Evening working: students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with permission from the tutor and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed.

Departure day - last date of course
Course teaching: 9.15am-3pm (lunch included)  
Teaching finishes: 3pm  

Residential students will need to check out of rooms by 10am.
Please note, the tutor may make slight variations to the daily timetable as required.

Terms & Conditions