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All of our Blog Posts
Christmas Challenge Big Give: Pathways Through Poetry
Pathways Through Poetry with The Poetry School £5,000 will enable 5 gifted, under-represented poets to access our new Pathways Through Poetry programme, through fully sponsored places and, in so doing, imbue the poetry landscape with vital new voices. By ‘under-represented poets’ we mean talented creatives who face barriers to opportunities due to mental health issues,…
Poetry School
Courses for Putting Together a Pamphlet
If you’ve been writing for a while and want to put together a pamphlet or debut collection, we have some advanced courses taught by award-winning poets, as well as workshops that will help you develop your craft and think originally about your voice. Essential Patterns in Poetry Masterclass Test out techniques and explore the repeating…
Poetry School
Gillian Allnutt – T. S. Eliot Writer’s Notes
Welcome to our Writers’ Notes for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist. These are educational resources for poets looking to develop their practice and learn from some of contemporary poetry’s most exciting and accomplished voices. Here’s Gillian Allnut – T. S. Eliot Writer’s Notes on her collection Lode. Finding Forms ‘I love this poor earth for I…
Gillian Allnutt
Natalie Shapero – T. S. Eliot Writer’s Notes
Welcome to our Writers’ Notes for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist. These are educational resources for poets looking to develop their practice and learn from some of contemporary poetry’s most exciting and accomplished voices. Here’s Natalie Shapero – T. S. Eliot Writer’s Notes on her collection Stay Dead. The Way Out Something I get asked a…
Natalie Shapero
Queer Ecology in Translation: Tim Tim Cheng reviews ‘for now I am sitting here growing transparent’ by Yau Ching, translated by Chenxin Jiang
Tim Tim Cheng explores a world where endings and beginnings are inseparable in Yau Ching’s for now I am sitting here growing transparent (Zephyr Press, 2025). Bilingual books curate a space of generosity. Placing work in the source language and target language side by side invites cross-cultural exchange. While monolingual readers must navigate unfamiliar sightlines,…
Tim Tim Cheng
What An Indie Publisher Can Teach You About Writing
As part of our Poetry Craft series, Autumn Richardson and Richard Skelton from Corbel Stone Press discuss what an indie publisher can teach you about writing. How has running Corbel Stone Press shaped your perspective on what poetry can do, beyond the autobiographical? Our personal experiences inform every aspect of our lives, so we’re not…
Autumn Richardson and Richard Skelton
Vona Groarke – T. S. Eliot Writer’s Notes
Welcome to our Writers’ Notes for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist. These are educational resources for poets looking to develop their practice and learn from some of contemporary poetry’s most exciting and accomplished voices. Here’s Vona Groarke on her collection Infinity Pool. Floaters & Flashes I’m deeply suspicious of the term ‘my practice’ when used by…
Vona GroarkePoems
Curated Poems, chosen by The Poetry School Staff.
Jacqueline Saphra
Catherine Smith
Alisa Havrylchenko
Serhii Rybnytskyi
Myroslav Herasymovych
Vitalij Kvitka
Lyuba Yakimchuk
Oleh Shynkarenko
Vyacheslav Huk
Steve Komarnyckyj
Chrissy Williams
vilde b. torset
Ben Rhys Palmer
Rasha Al Duwaisan
Mason Jabbari
Maggie Sawkins
Sarah Westcott
Zahra
Jasmine Chatfield
Anna Selby
Charlotte Baldwin
Amelia Loulli
Spring 2026 – Quick Course Guide
Our Spring Term is now live! We have a whole host of brilliant tutors and poetry courses ready for you to pick from and, as they tend to sell out really fast, we’ve made this Spring 2026 Quick Course Guide to help guide you to the right course. Online Courses INTERNATIONAL Online courses without Live…
Beth Evans (Poetry School)
How Poets Navigate Plagiarism, Consent, and Authorship
As part of our Poetry Craft series, Sarah Hesketh discusses how poets navigate plagiarism, consent, and authorship. When using real speech in poetry, how do you maintain authenticity without simply reproducing raw material? I suppose I’d immediately like to take issue with that word ‘authenticity’. Poetry that incorporates text that comes from a speech act…
Sarah Hesketh
Who Gets to Write? Class, Work and the Politics of Poetry Today
As part of our Poetry Craft series, Ruth Beddow discusses class, work and the politics of poetry today. Before we talk about whose poetry gets published, promoted or awarded, we need to ask: who gets to write in the first place? A myth of ‘working-class writing’? In recent years, we’ve seen Joelle Taylor (raised in…
Ruth Beddow
How to: Develop Poetic Sensitivity to the Spaces Between
In this series, we interview our tutors about poetry and its place in their world. These interviews will cover creative writing tips, excelling in a poetry workshop, building a literary career, and finding your poetic voice. Here’s Helen Calcutt on how to develop poetic sensitivity to the spaces between. How can poets use the ‘spaces…
Helen Calcutt
How I Did It: Forward Prizes – Michael Mullen on ‘Beithir’
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2025 ’How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their chosen collection. Here’s Michael Mullen on what inspired them to write the poem ‘Beithir’ in Goonie. Any writer of Scots –…
Michael Mullen
How I Did It: Forward Prizes – Sarah Ghazal Ali on ‘Magdalene Diptych’
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2025 ’How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their chosen collection. Here’s Sarah Ghazal Ali on what inspired her to write the poem ‘Magdalene Diptych’ in Theophanies. Magdalene at a…
Sarah Ghazal Ali
Why Understanding Music Can Improve Your Poetry Writing
As part of our Poetry Craft series, Tristram Fane Saunders discusses why understanding music can improve your poetry writing. In what ways can poetry be considered a form of music? Listen to a poem in a language that you cannot speak, and very often you’ll come away with a strong sense of the emotion behind…
Tristram Fane Saunders
Connecting with Care through Poetry
In this series, we interview our tutors about poetry and its place in their world. These interviews will cover creative writing tips, excelling in a poetry workshop, building a literary career, and finding your poetic voice. Here’s Suzannah V. Evans on how to connect with care through poetry. Has your experience as a carer, formally…
Suzannah V. Evans
How I Did It: Forward Prizes – Desree on ‘Intruders’
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2025 ’How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their chosen collection. Here’s Desree on what inspired her to write the poem ‘Intruders’ in Altar. The Prompt The first version of…
Desree
How to: Captivate with Picture Books
In this series, we interview our tutors about poetry and its place in their world. These interviews will cover creative writing tips, excelling in a poetry workshop, building a literary career, and finding your poetic voice. Here’s Kathryn Simmonds on how to captivate with picture books. Are there key differences between writing for adults and…
Kathryn Simmonds
How I Did It: Forward Prizes – Isabelle Baafi on ‘Piggy’
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2025 ’How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their chosen collection. Here’s Isabelle Baafi on what inspired her to write the poem ‘Piggy’ in Chaotic Good. PIGGY From Horror The…
Isabelle Baafi
How I Did It: Forward Prizes – Catherine-Esther Cowie on ‘Mimorian’
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2025 ’How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their chosen collection. Here’s Catherine-Esther Cowie on what inspired her to write the poem ‘Mimorian’ in Heirloom. In Another Language ‘Mimorian’ is…
Catherine-Esther Cowie
The Art of Poetic Experimentation: Push Boundaries, Break Forms, Find Freedom
For poets who love to play, innovate, and challenge the limits of form, our experimental poetry courses are an invitation to risk, reimagine, and reinvent. These courses celebrate unpredictability, genre-bending approaches, and wild creative impulses – perfect for those looking to spark something new. Whether you’re working in collage, constraint, visual poetry, or hybrid forms,…
Poetry School
Carol Watts – Laurel Prize: Below the Surface
Welcome to our Below the Surface series for the 2025 Laurel Prize finalists. These pieces shine a light on the creative practice behind these outstanding collections and show how nature and the climate crisis impacted the authors’ processes. Here’s Carol Watts on her collection Mimic Pond. I’ve written poetry as far back as I can remember….
Carol Watts
Katrina Porteous – Laurel Prize: Below the Surface
Welcome to our Below the Surface series for the 2025 Laurel Prize finalists. These pieces shine a light on the creative practice behind these outstanding collections and show how nature and the climate crisis impacted the authors’ processes. Here’s Katrina Porteous on her collection Rhizodont. Networks of Nature Communities and Commissions I did not set out…
Katrina Porteous
Eliza O’Toole – Laurel Prize: Below the Surface
Welcome to our Below the Surface series for the 2025 Laurel Prize finalists. These pieces shine a light on the creative practice behind these outstanding collections and show how nature and the climate crisis impacted the authors’ processes. Here’s Eliza O’Toole on her collection A Cranic of Ordinaries. Writing as the tip of the iceberg How…
Eliza O'Toole
JR Carpenter – Laurel Prize: Below the Surface
Welcome to our Below the Surface series for the 2025 Laurel Prize finalists. These pieces shine a light on the creative practice behind these outstanding collections and show how nature and the climate crisis impacted the authors’ processes. Here’s JR Carpenter on their collection Measures of Weather. How and where do you write? Do you have…
J. R. Carpenter
Judith Beveridge – Laurel Prize: Below the Surface
Welcome to our Below the Surface series for the 2025 Laurel Prize finalists. These pieces shine a light on the creative practice behind these outstanding collections and show how nature and the climate crisis impacted the authors’ processes. Here’s Judith Beveridge on her collection Tintinnabulum. I always write at home in a garage that I have…
Judith Beveridge