Getting from A to B: The Poetry of Scraps
Take left turns and unusual routes, as we explode the expected in your poetic journey.
* This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
This workshop will help participants rethink the ways in which they can move through a poem, how they can get themselves out of tight spots that seem impossible to write themselves out of, and how to connect seemingly disparate ideas using the poet’s ubiquitous scraps document as a generative tool.
Over the course of the workshop, we’ll look at poems by Jorie Graham, Frank O’Hara, James Tate, Mary Ruefle, Terrence Hayes, Jack Underwood, and Paige Lewis, and discuss the various ways in which these poets get from A to B.
Throughout the session we’ll examine techniques these poets employ in order to interrupt the expected and how they manoeuvre through their poems, paying particular attention to non-sequiturs, phonesthemes, McCloud’s ideas of closure and transitions from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, and moments of intense magnification or extreme zoom-out. Participants will also be asked to anonymously submit their own poetic scraps beforehand and then we’ll all work on these together in the session.
1 x 2.5-hour session, running 6.30–9pm (BST), on 15 April 2025. This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM.
To apply for a concession rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. More information about how our Video Courses work can be found on the Video Courses page. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected].
Image credit: Mohit Tomar
About Jordan Hayward 
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Jordan Hayward is a poet and editor from Preston, now based in Manchester. His work has appeared in The Rialto, The London Magazine, bath magg, and PROTOTYPE 6. He was a member of the 23/24 New Poets Collective at the Southbank Centre, and is founder and editor of Basket, a magazine of contemporary poetry.
"The Poetry School has had a wonderful impact on my life and wellbeing. My writing improves after each course as my range of creative thinking expands. I have learned a variety of poetic forms and styles. The courses also help me with my approach to critique of someone else's writing. The best part is learning and discussing poetry with other poets."
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