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Home » Courses

Courses

Start writing poetry, today

Join us in reading, writing, editing and translating poetry, in year-long courses, short courses, workshops, one-day sessions, seminars, tutorials and every variety of learning in between – in our classrooms, off site and online.

For more information and FAQs about how our courses work, please go to our In-Person Courses, Video Courses and Online Courses pages.

All our Courses

Voiced Up! Finding Your Poetic Voice £55.00 * Tutor: Kaz Reeves

Voiced Up! Finding Your Poetic Voice

Challenge and choice in developing your voice.

Start Date: July 10, 2025 6.30-9pm
End Date: July 10, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video
Matthew Caley London Seminar £75.00 * Tutor: Matthew Caley

Matthew Caley London Seminar

Extra Summer sessions of Matthew Caley's intimate monthly seminars.

Start Date: July 23, 2025 6.30pm
End Date: September 17, 2025 ( 57 Days )
Type: Seminar • Location:
Poetry School Play: Adventure £20.00 * Tutor: Nick Murray

Poetry School Play: Adventure

Playful prompts, poetry games, pure fun. Join our next monthly play time session!

Start Date: July 28, 2025 7–8pm
End Date: July 28, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video
Experimental Poetry and Where it Came From: A Retrospective Masterclass Sold Out! Tutor: Vik Shirley

Experimental Poetry and Where it Came From: A Retrospective Masterclass

Swim in the waters of joyous experimentalism to inspire new innovations of your own!

Start Date: September 22, 2025
End Date: December 15, 2025 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online
Global Majority Writing from the British Countryside: A Poetry Masterclass £215.00 * Tutor: Louisa Adjoa Parker

Global Majority Writing from the British Countryside: A Poetry Masterclass

Explore the joy and resilience of pastoral writing from Global Majority poets.

Start Date: September 23, 2025
End Date: December 16, 2025 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online
The Drunken Boat – Transreading Rimbaud: A Masterclass £215.00 * Tutor: Stav Poleg

The Drunken Boat – Transreading Rimbaud: A Masterclass

Take inspiration from the enfant terrible of Surrealism and the master of symbolist writing.

Start Date: September 24, 2025
End Date: December 17, 2025 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online
Somatics: Writing & Ritual Masterclass Sold Out! Tutor: Dr Fran Lock

Somatics: Writing & Ritual Masterclass

Crafting connection – poetic body meets world.

Start Date: September 25, 2025
End Date: December 18, 2025 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online
‘What Work Is’: Class, Labour, and the Privilege of Poetry £135.00 * Tutor: Ruth Beddow

‘What Work Is’: Class, Labour, and the Privilege of Poetry

“There's no money in poetry, but there's no poetry in money, either.”

Start Date: September 29, 2025
End Date: December 8, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Writing in the Dark – Poetry for the Waning Year Sold Out! Tutor: Jessica Traynor

Writing in the Dark – Poetry for the Waning Year

Summon the poetics of the seasonally sensitive with dark arts, folklore, and myth.  

Start Date: September 30, 2025
End Date: December 9, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Talking Poetry: Using Interview Transcripts in Poetic Practice £135.00 * Tutor: Sarah Hesketh

Talking Poetry: Using Interview Transcripts in Poetic Practice

Explore oral history, transcripts, and documentary in your poetry.

Start Date: October 1, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Fortnightly Feedback with Zakia Carpenter-Hall £100.00 * Tutor: Zakia Carpenter-Hall

Fortnightly Feedback with Zakia Carpenter-Hall

Knock loose poems into shape with some concentrated feedback from poet, critic, and tutor, Zakia Carpenter-Hall.

Start Date: October 1, 2025
End Date: December 17, 2025 ( 78 Days )
Type: Online
Prose for Poets, Poets for Prose Sold Out! Tutor: Rachel Bower

Prose for Poets, Poets for Prose

Explore how the world of prose can offer fresh new perspectives on your poetry and vice versa. 

Start Date: October 1, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Wednesday Workshop with Tim Dooley £240.00 * Tutor: Tim Dooley

Wednesday Workshop with Tim Dooley

Our long-running weekly workshop with Tim Dooley, for poets looking to develop their individual voice and technique.

Start Date: October 1, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Video
Degenerate Art: Transreading Paul Klee Sold Out! Tutor: Peter Hughes

Degenerate Art: Transreading Paul Klee

Expand your ekphrasis as we Transread Paul Klee's 'degenerate art' art into innovative new poems.

Start Date: October 2, 2025
End Date: December 11, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Spells, Prayers, & Magic Studio Sold Out! Tutor: Helen Ivory

Spells, Prayers, & Magic Studio

Conjure, invoke, charm, and create with the raw magic of poetic language.

Start Date: October 6, 2025
End Date: November 3, 2025 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online
Invisible Frames: On & Beyond the Sonnet £135.00 * Tutor: Edward Doegar

Invisible Frames: On & Beyond the Sonnet

Find form and freedom in the famous fourteen.

Start Date: October 6, 2025
End Date: December 15, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
The Close Read: Advanced Poetry Workshop with Anthony Anaxagorou £240.00 * Tutor: Anthony Anaxagorou

The Close Read: Advanced Poetry Workshop with Anthony Anaxagorou

Develop your writing through discussion and feedback in this advanced workshop with Anthony Anaxagorou.

Start Date: October 6, 2025 2-4pm
End Date: December 8, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Poetry at the Next Level: An Advanced Workshop with Wayne Holloway-Smith £240.00 * Tutor: Wayne Holloway-Smith

Poetry at the Next Level: An Advanced Workshop with Wayne Holloway-Smith

Challenge yourself, elevate your writing, and take the next steps in your poetry career

Start Date: October 6, 2025 6.45pm
End Date: December 8, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Freedom in Form: Creativity, Control, & Craft with Jacqueline Saphra £240.00 * Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

Freedom in Form: Creativity, Control, & Craft with Jacqueline Saphra

Mix up your writing and learn new skills and techniques with Jacqueline Saphra.

Start Date: October 6, 2025
End Date: December 15, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Video
New Territories: An Intermediate-Advanced Workshop with Wayne Holloway-Smith £240.00 * Tutor: Wayne Holloway-Smith

New Territories: An Intermediate-Advanced Workshop with Wayne Holloway-Smith

Bring your writing to the next level and explore contemporary poetry’s cutting-edge.

Start Date: October 7, 2025 6.45pm
End Date: December 9, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Care Poetics £135.00 * Tutor: Suzannah V. Evans

Care Poetics

Show your caring side as we explore the possibilities of a more caring poetics.

Start Date: October 7, 2025
End Date: December 16, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Transreading the Archive with Corbel Stone Press Sold Out! Tutor: Autumn Richardson and Richard Skelton

Transreading the Archive with Corbel Stone Press

Explore the treasures of textual archives from around the world with experimental poet-publishers, Autumn Richardson & Richard Skelton of Corbel Stone Press.

Start Date: October 7, 2025
End Date: December 16, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Advanced Poetry Workshop with Mark Waldron £240.00 * Tutor: Mark Waldron

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Mark Waldron

An advanced weekly workshop group with the inimitable Mark Waldron.

Start Date: October 8, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Rachel Long’s Advanced Weekly Workshop with Special Guests £240.00 * Tutor: Rachel Long

Rachel Long’s Advanced Weekly Workshop with Special Guests

An exciting advanced workshop group with the much-loved Rachel Long and the benefit of special guest tutors each term. 

Start Date: October 8, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Ecology of Memory: Multimedia Transgenerational Ecopoetics £135.00 * Tutor: Elizabeth Torres (Madam Neverstop)

Ecology of Memory: Multimedia Transgenerational Ecopoetics

Explore environmental justice, ecological grief, and environmental memory through innovative multimedia poetry.

Start Date: October 8, 2025
End Date: December 17, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Lighting the World: Writing in Times of Crisis £240.00 * Tutor: Shazea Quraishi

Lighting the World: Writing in Times of Crisis

How can we write poetry through times of ecological emergency, perpetual war, or personal crises?

Start Date: October 8, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Poetic Forms for Beginners £70.00 * Tutor: Becky Varley-Winter

Poetic Forms for Beginners

Spark your creativity and take your first steps into the world of poetry!

Start Date: October 8, 2025
End Date: December 3, 2025 ( 57 Days )
Type: Video
Learning from the Female Poets: Influence & Inspiration Sold Out! Tutor: Clare Pollard

Learning from the Female Poets: Influence & Inspiration

Join the great poetic conversation and think about how to steal, allude, translate, remix, modernise, and answer back.

Start Date: October 9, 2025
End Date: December 18, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Follow the Impulse of the Brush: Transreading Japanese Forms Sold Out! Tutor: Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana

Follow the Impulse of the Brush: Transreading Japanese Forms

Inspiration from the East – Transread Japanese forms, poets, and traditions with Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana.

Start Date: October 9, 2025
End Date: December 18, 2025 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online
Radical Rhythms £120.00 * Tutor: Tristram Fane Saunders

Radical Rhythms

Explore the effects of poetry's metrical engine as we listen closely to language.

Start Date: October 9, 2025
End Date: December 4, 2025 ( 57 Days )
Type: Video
Friday Workshop with Natasha Hakimi Zapata £240.00 * Tutor: Natasha Hakimi Zapata

Friday Workshop with Natasha Hakimi Zapata

A weekly workshop for developing poets looking to improve their writing through feedback and close reading.

Start Date: October 10, 2025
End Date: December 12, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Clarity & Vision: Advanced Poetry Workshop with Richard Price £240.00 * Tutor: Richard Price

Clarity & Vision: Advanced Poetry Workshop with Richard Price

Join this group for close discussion of your writing with acclaimed poet, Richard Price.

Start Date: October 10, 2025
End Date: December 12, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: Video
Saturday Sessions with Kathryn Simmonds £215.00 * Tutor: Kathryn Simmonds

Saturday Sessions with Kathryn Simmonds

Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Kathryn Simmonds.

Start Date: October 11, 2025 11am–5pm
End Date: December 13, 2025 ( 64 Days )
Type: In-person • Location:
Birds & Birdsongs Studio+ £125.00 * Tutor: Cat Woodward

Birds & Birdsongs Studio+

Thirteen ways of writing an ode to a darkling skylark.

Start Date: October 13, 2025
End Date: November 17, 2025 ( 36 Days )
Type: Online
Poetry Through the Lens of Multilingual Writing with Astrid Alben £180.00 * Tutor: Astrid Alben

Poetry Through the Lens of Multilingual Writing with Astrid Alben

A radical new course exploring trans- & multilingual writing with the innovative Astrid Alben.

Start Date: October 14, 2025
End Date: December 9, 2025 ( 57 Days )
Type: Video
Beginners’ Workshop Group £70.00 * Tutor: Becky Varley-Winter

Beginners’ Workshop Group

Join a supportive community for close reading and developmental feedback on your new poems!

Start Date: October 15, 2025
End Date: December 10, 2025 ( 57 Days )
Type: Video
Creation/Destruction £75.00 * Tutor: April Yee

Creation/Destruction

Writers often refer to their books as their babies – but what about texts about babies themselves?

Start Date: October 23, 2025
End Date: November 20, 2025 ( 29 Days )
Type: Video
The Poetry of Picture Books £65.00 * Tutor: Kathryn Simmonds

The Poetry of Picture Books

Push your poetic skills, find the sparks behind stories, and explore the harmony between words and pictures when writing for children.

Start Date: October 25, 2025
End Date: October 25, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: In-person • Location: The Bindery, London
The Spaces Between £100.00 * Tutor: Helen Calcutt

The Spaces Between

What lives and breathes in the spaces between moment and moment; what possibilities arise from these bridges of quiet?

Start Date: October 30, 2025
End Date: December 11, 2025 ( 43 Days )
Type: Video
Good Grief Studio: Navigating Trauma in Poetry & Song £100.00 * Tutor: Matt Bryden

Good Grief Studio: Navigating Trauma in Poetry & Song

Write through loss, in all its forms, to find what you've gained on the other side of grief.

Start Date: November 3, 2025
End Date: December 1, 2025 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online
First & Last Lines Studio £100.00 * Tutor: Isabelle Baafi

First & Last Lines Studio

Learn to capture a reader’s attention within seconds and leave them wanting more.

Start Date: November 3, 2025
End Date: December 1, 2025 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online
A Bargain with the Light: Exploring Lee Miller at Tate Britain £150.00 * Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

A Bargain with the Light: Exploring Lee Miller at Tate Britain

Explore Lee Miller's trailblazing photographs at Tate Britain as inspiration for new poems.

Start Date: November 29, 2025 10.30am
End Date: December 13, 2025 ( 15 Days )
Type: In-person • Location: The Bindery, London
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How it works

The Poetry School’s teaching year runs over three ‘terms’ – Autumn, Spring and Summer. Each term we offer around 40-50 courses and workshops that cater to a variety of levels, varying in length and subject matter. The course programme changes every term with more new courses, workshops and tutors, but often includes courses that run over three terms and popular repeats.

We offer both ‘classroom’ teaching (UK) and ‘virtual’ teaching (international). You can visit our In-Person Courses, Video Courses and Online Courses pages for more detailed information about course structures, process and what to expect.

Finding the right Course

Most of our courses and workshops accommodate writers with a wide range of experience, but some are specifically designed for beginners or more practicised poets.

Here are our definitions:

  • Beginner – Learning the ropes: beginning to write poetry.
  • Intermediate – Starting to develop your voice, generate more work and grow confident on the page.
  • Advanced – Able to confidently edit, hone, discuss and critique your poetry.

Our programme is developed around these three teaching levels, although we also offer many courses that are Open to all – courses aimed at all levels, often focusing on a specific theme or inspirational subject matter.

FAQ

How many courses can I take?
To ensure the best experience, we recommend taking no more than two courses per term. If you are interested in signing up to more, please email us at [email protected] to discuss the different course schedules.
What is poetry?
There is no one answer, and many, many people have their own ideas. Here are some definitions we like:

‘Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm’ – OED

‘Poetry is a heightened imagistic use of language that does things to the heart and head’ – Grace Nichols

‘A made thing, a verbal construct, an event in language’ – Edward Hirsch

‘Poetry is memorable speech’ – W H Auden

‘Poetry does not explain life. It gives life to feeling and seeing’ – Sarah Stetie

‘Why, Sir, it is much easier to say what it is not’ – Samuel Johnson

I’m already publishing and performing poetry – what can you do to help me?
We have an expanding programme of projects and activities which seek to address the continuing professional development needs of practising poets, from residencies to enhanced publishing, editing and performance opportunities and beyond. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest details.
Will the Poetry School help me become a poet?
Since 1997, when the Poetry School was founded, our students have gone on to publish in magazines and online; they've produced pamphlets and books as poets and editors with publishers from the smallest independents to the largest commercial houses; they've won multiple prizes and awards; they've become poetry tutors themselves; they've moved on to take poetry MAs and PhDs.; they’ve set up performance nights, magazines, shows and events. While we can't guarantee that all students will go on to get published; serious engagement with the art and craft of poetry in the company of tutors and fellow students who are as passionate about the form as you are can only ever improve your chances of getting your work out to a wider audience.

Email: [email protected]

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