The Confessional Studio
True Confessions – revisiting the confessional canon and bringing the personal into your own poetics.
In this course, we will spend each week focusing on a different theme related to confessional poetry. We will read and respond to a diverse set of confessional poems including work by Sharon Olds, Richard Scott, and Ocean Vuong.
The term confessional poetry was coined by M. L. Rosenthal, in writing about Robert Lowell’s poetry collection Life Studies (1959). The rise of confessional poetry in the late 1950s and early 1960s, coincided with the rise of psychoanalysis, second-wave feminism, and the loss of privacy in the USA, as the separation between the private and public sphere became less marked. The post-war poets that were at the forefront of this movement were Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and John Berryman.
At the time, the confessional movement was criticised for being too accessible and apolitical. Those who criticised the confessional poets for their lack of engagement with political matters often overlooked the nuance in their work – the political motives that infused their work were subtle. The poetry was concerned with everyday experiences and personal encounters with structures of power rather than more literal critiques of them.
In this course, we will spend time unpacking the myths and criticisms surrounding confessional poetry. There will many visual prompts given to inspire the writing of your own poems, and there will be time for you to share your own work and receive feedback from your peers and the tutor. You will be encouraged to find your own voice throughout the course, and you will end the course with a short portfolio of your own work inspired by confessional poetry.
Studios are 4-week intensive courses. Reading material will be distributed before the course begins. There are no live chats so they are suitable for both 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: @arina-krasnikova
About Nisha Bhakoo 
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Nisha Bhakoo is a poet and academic who is interested in confessional poetry. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Dundee. She has two published poetry pamphlets and three published poetry collections. She also edited the Contemporary Gothic Verse Anthology published by The Emma Press. She taught literature and creative writing modules at the University of Dundee, University of Potsdam, and Humboldt University, Berlin. She has recently been awarded funding for her work by Creative Scotland and Society of Authors.
"Poetry School courses have been invaluable to finding my voice and subject matter interests as a poet. I have discovered what I truly love writing about. Every tutor has supplied reading material that I wouldn't have found on my own."
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