Darkness into Light: Poetry for the Waxing Year

Summon the poetics of the seasonally sensitive with dark arts, folklore, and myth.

Beginning in the ember days of winter, this course takes inspiration from the heightened perception that darkness can bring about. Over ten weeks, we’ll celebrate the unseen, the uncanny, and the supernatural with a series of prompts that honour the darkness while keeping watch for the first inklings of spring.

Each session, participants will respond to existing poems alongside prompts and exercises taken from folklore, mythology, and the tarot. As the course progresses, we’ll anticipate the turning of the year towards spring, and rituals of celebration and banishment which usher in a time of rebirth.

This ten-week asynchronous course is perfect for writers with a little experience who would like to embrace the season, and all the pleasures darkness can bring. Participants will come away with a group of new and workshopped poems, and some new sources of inspiration.

5 fortnightly sessions over 10 weeks, starting 13 January 2026. No live chats. Suitable for UK & International students.

Concessions & Accessibility

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. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected].

What to Expect

Please check the left hand side of this page for information on how this course works in practice, under the heading ‘Course Style‘. If you’re unsure as to what any of the terms there mean, or if this course is a good fit for you, please visit our What to Expect page which includes some further information on how our courses function.

Image credit: @enginakyurt

About Jessica Traynor View Profile

Jessica Traynor is a poet and poetry editor at Banshee. Her debut, Liffey Swim (Dedalus Press, 2014), was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award. The Quick (Dedalus Press, 2018) was an Irish Times book of the year. Pit Lullabies (Bloodaxe, 2022) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and a Guardian Best Summer Read of 2022. It was shortlisted for the Yeats Society Sligo/ Irish Independent Poetry Prize. Poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Poetry Review, The Guardian, Poetry London, bath magg, Bad Lilies, New England Review, TriQuarterly Review, CopperNickel, The Stinging Fly and Poems on the Underground. She was the 2023 recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry from the University of St Thomas, Minnesota. She was 2023 Arts Council Writer in Residence in Galway University, a judge for the 2023 Forward Prizes, and is a critic for The Irish Times. A new collection is forthcoming from Bloodaxe in 2025.

"Taking online courses has made it easier to study different aspects of poetry and to experiment with different forms."

- Summer 2025 Survey Response

The Poetry School