Janet Sutherland
Janet Sutherland is the author of five poetry collections, most recently The Messenger House (Shearsman Books, 2023), about her great-great-grandfather’s travels to Serbia in 1846/7.
Ref: SWE37463
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:
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?
On this course the tutor will supply all of the materials, including handouts of poems and other handouts we will use during the course.
Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).
Arrival day
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 7.15pm for registration. Students arriving earlier are welcome to purchase dinner in the College Dining Room from 6pm.
Students meet their tutor in the Bar at 7.30pm prompt to go to studios.
First Teaching session: 7.30pm - 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*
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
Course teaching: 9.15am - 3pm
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.
*Lunch can be purchased on campus, view options
Janet Sutherland is the author of five poetry collections, most recently The Messenger House (Shearsman Books, 2023), about her great-great-grandfather’s travels to Serbia in 1846/7.
Residential option available. Find out accommodation costs and how to book here.
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