Poetry SchoolSome poetry takes everyday reality as its starting-point in order to reveal something about the world we know. But poetry can equally begin with a ‘what if?’ – it can create unreal or unlikely situations and then, by exploring the consequences of those situations, lead us to unexpected ideas and images.
These ‘what if?’ situations could be described as ‘conceits’ – extended metaphors that bring together disparate ideas, making the poem a kind of literary test-tube.
In this Open Workshop with David Clarke, we will explore how conceits can be used to open up our writing to new ways of imagining, while still remaining rooted in a concern for our human experience of the world. We will think about how the use of conceits can draw in the reader, hold their attention, and keep surprising them until the very end of the poem.
Title: ‘The Conceit’
START DATE: Monday 1 February 2016
DEADLINE: Monday 8 February 20165, 12noon
LIVE CHAT: Friday 12 February 2016, 7-9pm GMT
To book your place, please email [email protected]
Note: places are given on a first-come first-served basis, but priority may be given to first-time students.
David Clarke was born in Lincolnshire and now lives in Gloucestershire. He works as a teacher and researcher. His poems have appeared in magazines including Magma, Tears in the Fence, Iota, Anon, Under the Radar and New Walk. His pamphlet, Gaud, was published by Flarestack Poets in 2012 and won the Michael Marks Pamphlet Prize. Arc (Nine Arches Press) is his first full collection of poems. He blogs at http://athingforpoetry.blogspot.co.uk/
This sounds like a fascinating open workshop.
Justine Newport
The workshop sounds like a worthwhile learning experience.
Hello everyone! I hope I got it right and I am on the group chat as my computer is playing up a bit
I like your use of Eduard Bezembinder’s ilustration for the conciet workshops it takes me back to working life as a young man and fuels up loads of ‘conciets’.