Summer School 2021

We are delighted to welcome you to our 2021 Summer School!

This programme of half-day workshops has been curated in collaboration with the exhibition A Fine Day for Seeing at Southwark Park Galleries. This show takes its title from the New York School poet Frank O’Hara, who bridged the literary and artistic worlds in the late 50s; in his spirit of collaboration, the exhibition – curated by our MA in Writing Poetry tutor Tamar Yoseloff and Paul Carey-Kent, an art writer with a long-standing interest in poetry – presents ten pairs of internationally acclaimed poets and artists working together.

In partnership with the exhibition, we have programmed a series of stimulating poetry workshops, taught by some of the most exciting poets writing today. These classes will run in-person at the Poetry School in Canada Water (London), in what we hope will be a week of celebration at being able to offer live session once again!

Places are extremely limited, so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment!

Summer School 2021 Programme

Heroes; Saints & Sinners with Roy McFarlane
Explore your heroes, and their foibles, to write poems of admiration and truth with Roy McFarlane.

Light About the Darkness with Vanessa Lampert
Develop rapport with your readers and welcome them into poems where light and dark can co-exist.

Experimental Latin American Poetry: From Visual to Concrete with Leo Boix
Explore experimental Latin American poetry with Latinx poet Leo Boix as your guide.

Experimenting in the Margins with Rachael Allen
Consider how working class experiences can disrupt poetic norms and create vital new work.

Writing the Everyday with Ella Frears
Ask what deserves to be in a poem and explore the everyday with T.S. Eliot Prize-nominated Ella Frears.

Life as Poem with Maitreyabandhu
Explore the book-length poem to find the poetry of your life.

‘Stored Sound’: Poetic Language & Sounds in the World with Holly Pester
Explore the power of poetic language to store and transmit sounds from different places and times.

From Personal Iconography to the Effect of Synthesis with Annie Freud
Join poet and artist, Annie Freud, for an exploration of your personal poetic iconography.

On Conditional Poetry with Inua Ellams
Join Inua Ellams to ask, what might happen if you did write that poem?

Poetry & Visual Art: A Fine Day for Seeing with Tamar Yoseloff
Be inspired by visual art on a gallery tour, before coming together to workshop new poems.

If you’d like to read more, please have a look through our Courses page. If you need any information on concessions or bursaries, please have a look through our Financial Support page or send an email over to [email protected]. Happy Booking!