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Face-to-Face Courses

Write more poems

Face-to-face teaching has been at the core of our educational programme since 1997. Running three terms a year both in our London classrooms and regional centres across the UK, our face-to-face courses and workshops have helped countless poets find encouragement for their work and allowed their poetry to flourish.

On our face-to-face courses, around a group of students meet on a regular basis with their tutor to read their own work, discuss poetry, and – session by session – develop new skills and confidence as poet. We offer a breadth of approach to learning poetry, with some courses focusing on form and technique, whilst others look to provide inspiration for generating new writing or offer close readings of certain poets or movements.

The longest courses we offer stretch over three terms (general, covering a wide variety of skills and subjects) and the shortest courses we offer are one-day workshops (specific, looking at specialist subjects and techniques).

All our Face-to-Face Courses

£144.00 *

Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

Play On: Live Music Inspiration

Explore the role of music in your poetry, and learn to hear the poetry in music

Start Date: September 9, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Richard Osmond

Foraging & Poetry Walk

Be inspired by nature on a day out in a wild London location with foraging poet Richard Osmond.

Start Date: September 10, 2017 10:00am - 3:00pm
End Date: September 10, 2017 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location:

Advanced Poetry Workshop (Monday Afternoon)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Matthew Caley

Advanced Poetry Workshop (Monday Afternoon)

Develop your work-in-progress through discussion and feedback in an advanced workshop.

Start Date: September 18, 2017 14:00
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£90.00 *

Tutor: Holly Corfield Carr

Landscape / Portrait

Learn to look at the big picture when writing your poems

Start Date: September 18, 2017 7pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Hours, Bristol

£171.00 *

Tutor: Wayne Holloway-Smith

Pamphlet / Portfolio

Looking to take your work to the next level and develop your portfolio

Start Date: September 18, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Ellen Cranitch

Take it Forward

This new beginners' course will galvanize your creativity and teach you how to get those burning poems out.

Start Date: September 18, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

The Construction of the Poem (Autumn 2017)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Various Tutors

The Construction of the Poem (Autumn 2017)

A rotating line-up of special guest tutors teach you how to construct a poem.

Start Date: September 18, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Tamar Yoseloff

Routes into Poetry

For beginner writers who want to explore some definitions of poetry; and to start some structured learning about rhyme, metre, verse forms, lineation and stanzas.

Start Date: September 19, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Nick Field

Level Up

Looking to take your work to the next level? Then this is the course for you!

Start Date: September 19, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

A Conversation with the Past: From Sappho to Basho

£171.00 *

Tutor: Tim Dooley

A Conversation with the Past: From Sappho to Basho

Construct your own independent poetic voice while maintaining a dialogue with poetic traditions.

Start Date: September 19, 2017 6:45pm
End Date: November 28, 2017 ( 71 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

Poem, Prompt, Pick & Mix

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

Start Date: September 20, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Matthew Caley

Advanced Poetry Workshop (Autumn 2017)

Develop your work-in-progress through discussion and feedback in an advanced workshop.

Start Date: September 20, 2017 6.45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

Intermediate Poetry Workshop (Autumn 2017)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Matthew Caley

Intermediate Poetry Workshop (Autumn 2017)

A weekly workshop for poets looking to develop their individual voice and technique.

Start Date: September 21, 2017 2:00pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests (Morning Session)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Kathryn Maris

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests (Morning Session)

One of our flagship advanced workshops, with the benefit of special guests.

Start Date: September 21, 2017 11:00am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests (Afternoon Session)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Kathryn Maris

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests (Afternoon Session)

One of our flagship advanced workshops, with the benefit of special guests.

Start Date: September 21, 2017 2:00pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£90.00 *

Tutor: Edmund Prestwich

The Power Of Place

Explore the power of place in your poetry with Edmund Prestwich.

Start Date: September 22, 2017 7pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Friends' Meeting House, Manchester

Manchester Saturday Sessions (September 2017)

£59.00 *

Tutor: Peter Sansom

Manchester Saturday Sessions (September 2017)

One of three all-day workshop sessions with the Sansoms in Manchester.

Start Date: September 23, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street., Manchester

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Autumn 2017)

£177.00 *

Tutor: Ros Barber

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Autumn 2017)

Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Ros Barber.

Start Date: September 23, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£90.00 *

Tutor: Andy Brown

Dwellings

Explore the place you live and write new poems on the subject with Andy Brown

Start Date: September 28, 2017 7pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Exeter Community Centre, Exeter

£90.00 *

Tutor: Emma Hammond

Hyper Spectacle (Face to Face)

Keep your work vital and disruptive in a shifting world by writing poetry where it has no business being.

Start Date: September 28, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£90.00 *

Tutor: Chris McCabe and Sophie Herxheimer

Blake in Lambeth

Illuminate your writing with this Blakean explosion of word, image and London walking.

Start Date: October 5, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Katrina Naomi

Flamboyance

Learn to serve fabulous, flamboyant realness in your poetry.

Start Date: October 7, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£185.00 *

Tutor: Myra Schneider

Poetry & Prose (Autumn 2017)

A monthly group for intermediate writers of poetry and prose, providing detailed feedback and discussion in each session.

Start Date: October 11, 2017 7:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: 130 Morton Way, London

Manchester Saturday Sessions (October 2017)

£59.00 *

Tutor: Peter Sansom

Manchester Saturday Sessions (October 2017)

One of three all-day workshop sessions with the Sansoms in Manchester.

Start Date: October 14, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street., Manchester

£187.00 *

Tutor: Various Tutors

Language, Structure and Style: A Course for Teachers and Educators

A course for poetry educators to support both their teaching and own creative practice.

Start Date: October 14, 2017 10:30am
End Date: December 9, 2017 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

Taking Your Writing Further (Autumn 2017)

£347.00 *

Tutor: Myra Schneider

Taking Your Writing Further (Autumn 2017)

A monthly poetry group with detailed feedback and discussion in each session.

Start Date: October 17, 2017 1:30pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: 130 Morton Way, London

£90.00 *

Tutor: Chrissy Williams

Child's Play

Put away adult things and explore your inner child with Chrissy Williams

Start Date: October 19, 2017 6:45pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Nicola Collett

Voice Workshop for Poets

Develop your vocal and performance techniques to really bring your poems off the page at live events.

Start Date: October 21, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£90.00 *

Tutor: Martin Kratz

From the Archives

Take inspiration from the rarely-seen archives of Anthony Burgess and write new poems with Martin Kratz.

Start Date: October 24, 2017 7pm
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester

£43.00 *

Tutor: Ruth Padel

Displacement

Investigate the theme of displacement with Ruth Padel.

Start Date: October 28, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

Manchester Saturday Sessions (November 2017)

£59.00 *

Tutor: Peter Sansom

Manchester Saturday Sessions (November 2017)

One of three all-day workshop sessions with the Sansoms in Manchester.

Start Date: November 18, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street., Manchester

£144.00 *

Tutor: Tamar Yoseloff

Poetry & Visual Art: Margate & London

Be inspired by visual art on the gallery tour, then come together in part 2 to workshop your poems.

Start Date: November 18, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Sarah Howe

Empathy

Can you really see the world from another's perspective? Explore empathetic writing with Sarah Howe.

Start Date: December 2, 2017 10:30am
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Poetry School, London

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HOW FACE-TO-FACE WORKS

Tutor and students sit round a large table for a typical Poetry School course session or workshop and the meetings are friendly and relatively informal.

In each session, you might be given Exercises (specific writing tasks to inspire your own poems or ideas) or Feedback (comments on your work by tutors and / or other students); you might be Reading (close attention to published poems, looking for examples of technique, style, theme or form), Writing (working towards creating new poems throughout the duration of the course or workshop) or a combination of all these. Some courses will include tasks for you to complete at home.

Our face to face courses are designed to suit all levels of experience: some activities are open to all, and others are structured with beginner, intermediate or advanced poets specifically in mind. Similarly, our activities aim to offer a breadth of approach to learning poetry, with some focusing on form and technique, whilst others look to provide inspiration for your writing.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

Content will vary course to course, but on all our face-to-face courses you can expect the following:

reading, writing and thinking about poetry in different ways
exposure to new writers, voices, forms and styles
the confidence to write more and devote more time to writing
generating new work
discovery of new areas and subjects for research
better understanding of how to make choices (length, theme, tone, etc)
enhanced critical skills
practical advice on further development

Many of our teaching poets are also performers, makers and artists, as well as teachers, and like to teach more than just poetry in their classes. One of the great advantages of face-to-face teaching is that is doesn’t always have to happen in a classroom. From time to time, we also like to run workshops where as well as writing poems, you might be going on a walking tour, exploring a priceless archive, painting pictures, eating exotic foods, making theatre props or even swimming in the wild.

We pride ourselves on the standard of our teaching and the poetry produced on every one of our courses. Many of our students have gone on to successfully submit their course work for publication in magazines and journals, and had success in competitions. But don’t take it from us: read some of our many student testimonials.

COURSE FORMATS

Generally speaking we offer 3 main types of face-to-face course:

LONG COURSES are more than 10 weeks and run over several terms. All our long courses start in the Autumn, but can be joined mid-way (subject to availability). Long courses are quite general and will encompass a large variety of ideas and techniques suitable for particular skill levels.

SHORT COURSES are commonly 10 weeks or less, once a term, with regular sessions running weekly or fortnightly. Short courses tend to focus on a particular subject, theme, form or technical aspect of poetry, often open to all levels.

WORKSHOPS are weekend, one or half day sessions. One day workshops are intensive writing and learning experiences that last 5 hours (with an additional 1 hour lunch break).

If you’re unsure which class, level, or style of course might be best for you, you can contact our administration team on administration@poetryschool.com for help with any course queries you might have.

FAQ

The activity I want is fully booked – what can I do?

Lost property?

Lost property will be kept in the office at 81 Lambeth Walk. Please call or email us if you believe you have left something in the classrooms.

What should I do if I can’t make a class session?

What is your refunds policy?

If you cannot attend a course a full refund will be made as long as cancellation is received four weeks before the course start date. After this period, we are only able to give you a refund if the course has sold out and we are able to fill your place. Refunds cannot be given if you were unable to attend a course or did not log on to the online chats. Please read our Terms & Conditions for more information.

How do I teach for the Poetry School?

Please send us details of your publication record and teaching experience and the ideas you have for courses and workshops you'd like to teach. If your ideas for the programme are a fit for ours, we will start to make joint plans. Download this 'Teaching for the Poetry School for the First Time' hand out which might be useful.

All our Face-to-Face Courses

HOW FACE-TO-FACE WORKS

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

COURSE FORMATS

FAQ

The activity I want is fully booked – what can I do?

Lost property?

What should I do if I can’t make a class session?

What is your refunds policy?

How do I teach for the Poetry School?

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