Poems After Poems: Writing Ars Poetica
Writing in response; capturing the life of poetry, in poetry.
In this course, students will learn about poems inspired or informed by other poems – intentional or otherwise; we will uncover that all art is built upon what’s come before and that this is no different with poetry.
Poems inform the way we see other poems and, oftentimes, just reading and bearing witness to a poem can inspire writing of your own poem. In addition, much of what we are and what we consume is art, and art is poetry.
When we are thinking about a poem, we are creating. When we are writing a poem, we are creating. The same goes for when we are walking, watching a movie, reading a book, talking to a friend, or simply staring out the window. So many of our ideas are poetry in motion.
In this course, we will look at poems that mirror the life of a poet, the life of a poem, writer’s block, editing or revising a poem, being a poet in the world. All are a part of the life of poetry. We will write some poems that are quite obviously about the writing of a poem and others that are more indirectly affected by poetry and specific poems.
In this course, students will read poems by Tiana Clark, Traci Brimhall, Kelli Russell Agodon, James Tate, Sharon Olds, Marie Howe, Jericho Brown, Aracelis Girmay. Ocean Vuong, Kim Addonzio, Jennifer Franklin, Anne Carson, Mary Oliver, Ada Limon, Major Jackson, and others.
5 fortnightly sessions over 10 weeks, starting 7 May 2025. No live chats. Suitable for UK & International students.
5 fortnightly sessions over 10 weeks, starting 5 May 2025. No live chats. Suitable for UK & International students.
Concessions & Accessibility
To apply for a concessionary rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected]. For more information visit our Online Courses page.
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About Leah Umansky 
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Leah Umansky is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently, OF TYRANT (Word Works Books 2024.) She earned her MFA in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and has curated and hosted The COUPLET Reading Series in NYC since 2011. She is the creator of the STAY BRAVE Substack which encourages women-identifying creatives to inspire other women-identifying creatives to stay brave in their creative pursuits. Her creative work has been featured on PBS, and in such places as The New York Times, The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A Day, USA Today, POETRY, Bennington Review, and American Poetry Review. She is an educator and writing coach who has taught workshops to all ages at such places as Poetry School London, Poets House, Hudson Valley Writers Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering and elsewhere. She is working on a fourth collection of poems ORDINARY SPLENDOR, on wonder, joy, and love. She can be found at www.leahumansky.com
"Poetry School has been an essential part of my writing for the last three years; no doubt it will continue to be so."
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