Posts By: Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Performance Skills for Poets
How do you stop your knees knocking and your paper wobbling when you perform your poetry? How can you make sure they can hear you in the cheap seats? We’ve got a workshop coming up at the Poetry School with poet and performer Nick Field that will help you settle those questions. Nick writes: ‘I’m really…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
The Fabric of Cringe … and how to avoid it.
We’re a big fan of Judy Brown’s poetry – here she is reading from her Forward shortlisted Seren collection Loudness – so we are very pleased we’ve been able to tempt her to teach for us this Autumn. Jusy is interested in getting to the nub of how to successfully incorporate details of our modern lives –…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Sharpened Into Absence: poems inspired by the Polar Museum, Scott Research Polar Institute
Earlier this year, the Poetry School collaborated with the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge on a series of poetry workshops. Led by Lucy Hamilton and Lucy Sheerman, students explored the museum’s exhibits, research and artefacts in search of inspiration for new work. Via the first of a new series of ‘CAMPUS Pamphlets’ we’re delighted…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff) CAMPUS Pamphlet: ‘Sharpened Into Absence’
Earlier this year, the Poetry School collaborated with the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge on a series of poetry workshops. Led by Lucy Hamilton and Lucy Sheerman, students explored the museum’s exhibits, research and artefacts in search of inspiration for new work. Via the first of a new series of ‘CAMPUS Pamphlets’ we’re delighted…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Write more poems this Summer at the Poetry School
It’s just over a week to go before our Summer Term starts. We’ve dozens of new courses and workshops – both face to face and online – to help you wrangle your poems into shape. You can download the whole programme here – or browse the highlights below. Not taken one of our classes before?…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Alireza Abiz
An Interview with Alireza Abiz
The seventh of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is Alireza Abiz. Alireza manages a translation business in Tehran and is currently working on his PhD in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Newcastle University. Tell us about your PhD. Alireza: My PhD is a practice-based PhD in Creative Writing – Poetry. It consists of two main components:…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: A B Jackson
An Interview with A B Jackson
The sixth of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is A B Jackson, who is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. Tell us about your PhD. Andrew: As it stands (and these things tend to shift over time) my thesis focuses on representations of polar exploration in contemporary poetry. By…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Lisa Matthews
An Interview with Lisa Matthews
The fifth of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is Lisa Matthews. Primarily a poet, Lisa also writes prose and does lots of other things associated with literature, writing and creativity. However, at the heart of her practice are the succinct, perception-changing lines, forms, discipline and imagery of poetry. Hello Lisa – what’s your…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Janet Rogerson
An Interview with Janet Rogerson
The fourth of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is Janet Rogerson. Janet is currently studying on the PhD Creative Writing programme at the University of Manchester. Hi Janet – tell us a bit about your PhD Janet: It’s a Creative Writing PhD, which is two-thirds creative and one-third research. The split is fortunate because I’m…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)Meet the Doctors: John Challis
An Interview with John Challis
The third of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poets is John Challis. John has started a PhD in Creative Writing at Newcastle University on contemporary poetry and Film Noir, and now works as a teaching associate. Hi John – tell us a bit about your PhD John: My PhD is concerned with identifying the…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
How to Write Poetry: a List of Various Guides, Primers, Essays and Introductions
Poetry School staff doing some ‘very important’ poetry-based research on Facebook one recent lunchtime noticed an interesting thread populating itself on Allison McVety’s page. Poet and friend of the Poetry School, Allison was asking for recommendations on the technicalities of writing poetry – and dozens of her writerly friends responded with tried-and-tested books and essays…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Helen Taylor
An Interview with Helen Taylor
The second of our eight Is There A Doctor in the House? poet tutors is Helen Taylor. Helen is studying for her PhD at Royal Holloway University in London, concentrating on the Liverpool-based movement Merseybeat. Helen, what’s your PhD about? Helen: My thesis is the first major critical discussion of Merseybeat poetry, considering it as…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Meet the Doctors: Tara Bergin
An Interview with Tara Bergin
How many times have you been to a literature event and a person in the audience has asked the person on stage ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ We’ve just discovered the answer. The Poetry School’s forthcoming Is There A Doctor in the House? event is the place writers (you) get their ideas from….
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Shingle Street Residency interview with Nia Davies
An Interview with Nia Davies
This is the second part of our series of interviews with our two, ever-doughty Shingle Street poets-in-residence. You can read the first interview with Amy Key here. This month we spoke to poet, editor and outdoor runner, Nia Davies, on everything from Sinbad the Sailor to the Suffolk coastline and haunted weapons training facilities. Again, a big…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
How I Did It: ‘As they pulled you out of the oxygen tent / you asked for the latest party’
This is the last poem that made it into my new book, just as the publishers and printers were calling time. It’s a definite Summer of 2013 snapshot. When I wrote it, all these things were in the air: the David Bowie Is exhibition at the V&A; BOWIEOKE (David Bowie karaoke) at The Betsy Trotwood,…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)
Shingle Street Residency interview with Amy Key
An Interview with Amy Key
Last month, out intrepid poets-in-residence, Amy Key and Nia Davies, were in Shingle Street on the Suffolk coast for a week of writing, homesteading and blogging. Thank you to Poetry School trustee Daphne Astor and her friend Tim Miller (owner of the Shingle Street cottage) for offering this residency opportunity. Amy and Nia were kind enough…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)