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Stanzas for Ukraine – 5
On The Impossibility of Not Writing by Vitalij Kvitka, translated from the Ukrainian by Stephen Komarnyckyj Poetry is an infinity. War tries to deny this infinity. There are, in this sense, no greater enemies than poetry and war. The poet, after all, is trying to embody the idea of human eternity, as if the infinity…
Vitalij Kvitka
A Slice of Butterworth-Toast: Writing Poems for Children
I think I could spot a Charles Causley children’s poem a mile away, in the dark. All of them bear a unique fingerprint of magic, music, and respect for the reader’s wish to be entertained – but it’s also true that no two Causley poems are alike. Flip through his Collected Poems for Children and…
Rachel Piercey
MA in Writing Poetry Scholarship 2020 Now Open For Entries
We’re delighted to announce that, for the second year running, Newcastle University is offering a scholarship award worth £7,800 (full fees) for an outstanding applicant to the Poetry School / Newcastle MA in Writing Poetry for 2020/21 entry. The Scholarship will be awarded on a competitive basis to applicants who have already accepted an offer of a place for…
Poetry School
Coronavirus: How Will It Affect My Studies?
As you know, here at Poetry School we treat the well-being and health of our community extremely seriously. As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that the safest and best way forward for all of us over the next few weeks is to close the physical School. This does not mean…
Poetry School
Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, and The Poetry School launch The Laurel Prize
We are delighted to be able to announce the launch of The Laurel Prize and honoured to be collaborating with Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage on one of his headline projects. The Laurel Prize will be an award for the best collection of environmental, ecopoetry, or nature poetry. The Prize will further the discourse around climate…
Poetry School
Spring 2020 Term Courses Are Now LIVE
We are delighted to announce that our Spring 2020 courses are now UP and BOOKABLE! Below is a quick guide of all of the courses that have opened for booking today. Note: We expect many of our courses to sell out very fast, so make sure to secure your place on your favourite course or courses today!…
Sarala Estruch
Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critic Review: ‘Surge’ by Jay Bernard
It is noteworthy that the first word of the opening poem in Surge (Chatto), Jay Bernard’s searing debut, is remember. Here is a collection against forgetfulness; a refutation of any presumption that the past is the past at all. Set between the pillars of two disasters, the New Cross Fire of 1981, which claimed the…
Victoria Adukwei Bulley
Concessions & Bursaries – new rates from Autumn 2019
Can’t afford the full price of one of our courses? Don’t despair – there are options available. Please note: that you may be required to provide proof of eligibility for our concessionary rates. Discounts do not apply to our one-to-one programme or travelling workshops. Give us a call in the office (020 7582 1679) to…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
How I Did It – Ted Hughes Award: Greta Stoddart on ‘Who’s There?’
This year we’ve once again asked the poets shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award to explain the creative process behind their award-nominated work as part of our ongoing ‘How I Did It‘ series. In this first instalment, Greta Stoddart talks about the genesis of Who’s There?, a radio piece tackling the topic of dementia through an interweaving of…
Greta Stoddart
Neringa Dastoor: On the ‘Drawing Poetry’ Residency
This one-month experimental poetry residency was a very healthy and refreshing process for me, an absolute treat in terms of professional development. Having no particular plan to start with was already very different to what I am used to when teaching BA students or running a creative workshop with the public. Workshops throughout the month…
Neringa Dastoor
Open Workshop: ‘Freedom in Confinement’ with Remi Graves
Excavate and explore the theme of confinement in order to find new freedoms in writing about the self, with our 1215today Digital Poet in Residence, Remi Graves. Used in its modern context, confinement refers to a state of being limited or constricted. It’s rarer, and older definition however relates to ‘the condition of being in…
Poetry School
Poetry and Visual Art October 2016 Schedule
Poetry and Visual Art: Book here. Saturday 15th October 10:30am: Marian Goodman Gallery, 5-8 Lower John St, London W1F 9DY Giuseppe Penone: Fui, Sarò, Non Sono (I was, I will be, I am not). Informal talk on the exhibition from William Annesley, Gallery Assistant at Marian Goodman. 11: 45am: Hauser & Wirth, 23 Savile Row,…
Poetry School
Shey Hargreaves reads ‘Death at Sea’ and ‘Junior Doctors’
Shey Hargreaves, our former Digital Poet-in-Residence with 1215.today, reads two of the poems written during her residency. The poems are also hosted over on the 1215.today site. Junior Doctors is “an homage to all those toiling long, red-eyed hours in the fluorescent throb of hospital corridor”. You can read Shey’s blog post and poem about the…
Ali Lewis
Our Summer School Programme 2016
Summer’s here and the time is right for getting a burst of varied and exciting poetic inspiration. Once again, this Summer we’ll be running a week of workshops during the day to get you warmed up and inspired for some patio, beach or park-based reading and writing. We’ve asked some of our favourite poets to…
Ali Lewis
Poetry & Visual Art Gallery Day: Itinerary
Poetry & Visual Art Gallery Day: Itinerary Poets have long drawn inspiration from painters and sculptors; with the rise of a new generation of artists challenging traditional media, can we find in them a source for poems that push boundaries in a similar manner? As part of Tamar Yoseloff’s Poetry and Visual Art course, students…
Ali Lewis
How I Translated It: ‘It makes two signs…’ by Krystyna Miłobędzka
Translating is attending to what might happen in language and what might occur between languages. As readers and writers we know this space intimately – the in-betweenness where we can experiment, hesitate, discover, doubt, try again. ‘“Try” – there’s so much faith in it, and so much resignation. But we keep trying. … Only such…
Elżbieta Wójcik-LeeseTwilight of the Iguana: interview with Isobel Dixon
Tell us about your workshop …? Isobel: The natural world is a continuing obsession in my work. My last collection The Tempest Prognosticator is teeming with creatures from life and art – from the energetic toktokkie beetle to Damien Hirst’s pickled shark, from Henri Rousseau’s ‘Merry Jester’ apes in their lush jungle, to the poor…
Poetry School
The Great Escape: interview with Chrissy Williams
Tell us about your workshop Chrissy: It’s called ‘The Great Escape’, and it will involve generating new poems infused with exotic locations and unfamiliar imagery. We carry ourselves with us wherever we go, but maybe doing it in a new place, visually, sensually, will yield some interesting results. I’ve got some exciting places to share…
Poetry School
Poetry Postcards: interview with Rishi Dastidar
Tell us about your workshop Rishi: Postcards, of all shapes, sizes and hues, were some of the first things I ever collected – I used to have scrapbooks filled with them, and I rather hope their still in the loft at my parents’ house. My mania for them might have subsided over the years, but…
Poetry School
Poetic Trip Advisor: interview with Claire Trévien
Tell us about your workshop Claire: It’s going to be a playful take on the poetry review workshop, which will hopefully encourage more people to give it a go… Does travel broaden the mind? Claire: Only when travellers get off the beaten track (of their mind/space). Going anywhere nice on your holidays this year? Claire: Doing the…
Poetry School
‘The Poetry School has changed my life by providing an international forum for writing and talking about poetry – it is wonderful.’
To see further testimonials from our students, please click here.
Poetry School
Special thanks to James Revill for making sure the whole Trip went ahead!
Mardy bum nah then bloomin’ ‘eck. What’s that when it’s at ooam. Eeh ah’ll gi’ thi summat to rooer abaht ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. Eeh ee by gum what’s that when it’s at ooam gi’ o’er face like a slapped arse. Eeh appens as maybe. That’s champion ah’ll box thi ears ah’ll box…
Shane Rounce