The Complete Works Poetry – call for submissions

An update from our friends at The Complete Works …

The Complete Works Poetry (TCW 3)

Deadline: February 14th, 2016

Are you a Black or Asian poet at the stage where you are committed to producing a full-length collection? Would you benefit from a tailored programme of support and career development?

Funded by Arts Council England
Patron: Carol Ann Duffy
A national development programme for advanced Black and Asian poets

Are you a Black or Asian poet at the stage where you are committed to producing a full-length collection? Would you benefit from a tailored programme of support and career development?

If you think you fit this description, then the Complete Works could be what you need to take your poetry to the next level.

For one year you will have an individually assigned poet-mentor offering you intensive critical feedback on your writing. You will also have access to a professional development programme including seven full days of seminars, critical reading sessions and a week- long residential course, as well as career support and advice. You will take part in an international academic conference on diversity in poetry, as well as having the opportunity to take part in festival readings, events and a possible tour with TCW fellows. The Complete Works III will culminate in a final anthology to be published by Bloodaxe, and two showcase events.

The Complete Works Poetry (TCW 3) welcomes applications from poets of all ages with a lower limit of 18. We are particularly keen to have a varied age group. There are ten places on the scheme.Please note this is a national scheme and at least 6 of the 10 poets selected will be based OUTSIDE London (all of the 33 boroughs and the City).

Special one-to-one surgeries with poet and editor Karen McCarthy Woolf will be available online from January. She will help with editing and choice of poems for your application. Please contact the Director, see details below, to receive full details. There are limited places available so please register your interest as soon as you can.

Interviews will be held in April 2016 and you will need to be available from May 2016 to November 2017,  as well as taking part in showcases in November 2017. The Complete Works is highly subsidized, but there is a fee of £500.00 which is payable over 18 months of the programme.

To apply, send 5 copies of fifteen poems along with a covering letter outlining why you would like to join the programme. Your letter should state how you might benefit from it at this particular stage in your writing career and the contribution you can make. Your poems should be typed (12 point) and single-spaced.

Please DO NOT write your name on your sheets of poetry.

Please mark your envelope ‘The Complete Works Poetry’ and send it to:

Nathalie Teitler
Director, The Complete Works Poetry
Office 330
405 Kings Road
Chelsea
London SW10 0BB

We look forward to receiving your application.

If you would like more information, or to discuss The Complete Works III, please contact the Director, Dr Nathalie Teitler, at [email protected], but we hope that the following will answer many of your questions.

FAQs

(1) Can poets from outside the UK apply?  

Unfortunately, for this programme poets must be resident in the UK.

(2) What are the fees for the programme? 

The fee is £500.00 but payment plans can be worked out and spread out over the duration of the entire programme.

(3) Is the programme for poets who have not been previously published?  

The programme is for advanced poets who are ready to publish a full collection. This could be a first collection, in which case it is likely they will have published in magazines/journals, or a second collection.

(4) Is the programme only for young poets?       

No. We are very keen to encourage inter-generational dialogue.

5) What is the time commitment necessary for the programme? 

The programme will involve at least 3 meetings in the year with your mentor. These will be of about half a day. In between these meetings there will be communication via e-mail and phone and an agreed amount of writing will be produced by the mentee. However, this agreed amount must be at least 3 poems a month, with one poem at a standard to be submitted for a monthly online showcase, or online work-shopping.

You will be expected to comment on the work of other poets on the on-line workshop once a month. To gain as much as possible from the programme, you will need to be able to put in a significant amount of writing time on your own. However both the scheduling of the meetings and the timeframe of writing are extremely flexible, and as far as possible, every effort will be made to meet your needs and your individual circumstances.

There will also be a residential course and seven seminar days, which will be divided between London and Manchester.

(6) What are we looking for from an application?

We expect you to show evidence of a good level of technical ability on the page, but evidence of an ability to experiment and take risks, and the potential to bring something new to contemporary British poetry will be the deciding factors. We are looking for poets who want to explore their own work and working practice, to go to the next level of their career and build the foundations for a lifetime of development. We are also looking for poets who are generous with their fellows and will build a community of diverse poets in future years.

(7) Is there any support available for poets who are not selected?

Yes, we are keen to build as large a community as possible. If you apply but are not selected you will have access to a large, online range of resources and learning tools from The Complete Works II and III.