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, 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

£0.00

Tutor: Ali Lewis (The Poetry School)

WRITE AHEAD: Free Introductory Workshop

Want to be a poet? Go Write Ahead.

Start Date: March 22, 2019 7pm
End Date: March 22, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Calling Forth: Direct Address / Apostrophe

£72.00 *

Tutor: Phillis Levin

Calling Forth: Direct Address / Apostrophe

Explore the power of the vocative or direct address in poetry

Start Date: March 23, 2019 10.30am
End Date: March 23, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Riddle of the Sphinx: Poetry and the Mysterious

£35.00 *

Tutor: Lavinia Singer

Riddle of the Sphinx: Poetry and the Mysterious

Write along the edges of the unexplainable

Start Date: April 10, 2019 10.30am
End Date: April 10, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£35.00 *

Tutor: Jade Cuttle

Life-Cycles

Submit your poems to rhythms of the natural world

Start Date: April 10, 2019 2pm
End Date: April 10, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Beg, Borrow, Steal: Quotation, Allusion and Intertextuality

£35.00 *

Tutor: Helen Charman

Beg, Borrow, Steal: Quotation, Allusion and Intertextuality

Learn how to lovingly ‘lift’ new material from old

Start Date: April 11, 2019 10.30am
End Date: April 11, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£35.00 *

Tutor: Keiran Goddard

Pop, Prophecy and the Profane

Explore the rhythms of speech, prayer and prophecy, from nineties pop to Pablo Neruda

Start Date: April 11, 2019 2pm
End Date: April 11, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£26.25 *

Tutor: Sean Wai Keung

Eat Your Words: Poetry and Food

Enhance your poems with roast beef, cheesecake, and a bottle of Chablis

Start Date: April 12, 2019 10.30am
End Date: April 12, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£35.00 *

Tutor: Ed Luker

Poetry and Violence

Compose ways of confronting acts of violence

Start Date: April 12, 2019 2pm
End Date: April 12, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£35.00 *

Tutor: James Harding

Typography for Poets

Finesse the poem-on-the-page, from ascender to descender

Start Date: April 13, 2019 10.30am
End Date: April 13, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Bodies and Botanies in Contemporary Experimental Poetry

£26.25 *

Tutor: Srishti Krishnamoorthy-Cavell

Bodies and Botanies in Contemporary Experimental Poetry

Write the poem botanical, from queer florality to trees bearing witness

Start Date: April 13, 2019 2pm
End Date: April 13, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Speaking Laban’s Colours: Breath and Rhythm

£35.00 *

Tutor: Dzifa Benson

Speaking Laban’s Colours: Breath and Rhythm

Use the language of movement to 'speak' your poem

Start Date: April 14, 2019 10.30am
End Date: April 14, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£35.00 *

Tutor: Nasser Hussain

Patterned Language

Prime your poems with the pulse of pattern

Start Date: April 14, 2019 2pm
End Date: April 14, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

When the Bough Breaks: Writing Childhood, Writing Parenthood (Exeter)

£108.00 *

Tutor: Fiona Benson

When the Bough Breaks: Writing Childhood, Writing Parenthood (Exeter)

Produce new poems on the ever-evolving journey of parenting and being parented

Start Date: April 17, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: June 5, 2019 ( 50 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Exeter Community Centre, Exeter

£67.50 *

Tutor: Richard O'Brien

Self, Place, World (Birmingham)

Explore your unique perspective on the world to create new poems

Start Date: April 27, 2019 12pm
End Date: June 29, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Pen Museum, Birmingham

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Summer 2019)

£177.00 *

Tutor: Ros Barber

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Summer 2019)

Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Ros Barber

Start Date: April 27, 2019 10.30am
End Date: June 29, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Wayne Holloway-Smith

Pamphlet / Portfolio (Summer 2019)

Take your work to the next level and develop your portfolio

Start Date: April 29, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 1, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Shazea Quraishi

The Poet's Toolkit (Summer 2019)

Explore poetry’s inner workings, hone your craft, and look at various techniques to help your poems achieve lift-off

Start Date: April 29, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 1, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£128.25 *

Tutor: Tim Dooley and Tamar Yoseloff

The Urban Pastoral (Reading Course)

Stroll the streets and contemplate nature’s role in the life of cities

Start Date: April 30, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 2, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Total Syntax: A Crash Course in Grammar, Diction & Phrasemaking

£90.00 *

Tutor: Dai George

Total Syntax: A Crash Course in Grammar, Diction & Phrasemaking

Explode the envelope of language to understand syntax, fragmentation, grammar and constraint

Start Date: April 30, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: June 25, 2019 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Intermediate Poetry Workshop (Summer 2019)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Tim Dooley

Intermediate Poetry Workshop (Summer 2019)

A weekly workshop for poets looking to develop their individual voice and technique, run by the inimitable Tim Dooley

Start Date: May 1, 2019 2pm
End Date: July 10, 2019 ( 71 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

Poem, Prompt, Pick & Mix (Summer 2019)

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

Start Date: May 1, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 3, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Mark Waldron (Summer 2019)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Mark Waldron

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Mark Waldron (Summer 2019)

Develop your writing through discussion and feedback in this advanced workshop with Mark Waldron

Start Date: May 1, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 3, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Space, Time: Writing Long Poems & Sequences

£90.00 *

Tutor: Helen Charman

Space, Time: Writing Long Poems & Sequences

Investigate the structural elements of 40 lines or more

Start Date: May 2, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: June 27, 2019 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£171.00 *

Tutor: Meryl Pugh

First Encounters (Summer 2019)

Take your first steps into the world of poetry!

Start Date: May 2, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 4, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

WRITE AHEAD: Free Introductory Workshop (Friday 3 May 2019)

£0.00

Tutor: Bridget Minamore

WRITE AHEAD: Free Introductory Workshop (Friday 3 May 2019)

Want to be a poet? Go Write Ahead.

Start Date: May 3, 2019 7pm
End Date: May 3, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Richard Price (Summer 2019)

£171.00 *

Tutor: Richard Price

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Richard Price (Summer 2019)

Develop your writing through discussion and feedback in this advanced workshop

Start Date: May 3, 2019 11am
End Date: July 5, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Jean Sprackland

Mapping Our Lost Haunts

Rediscover the dens, playgrounds and treehouses of your childhood

Start Date: May 4, 2019 10.30am
End Date: May 4, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£67.50 *

Tutor: Will Harris

Un-Canon/Ca-NON

Explode the established literary canon, and unearth new multiplicities

Start Date: May 7, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: June 27, 2019 ( 52 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests Tues AM (Summer 2019)

Sold Out!

Tutor: Kathryn Maris

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests Tues AM (Summer 2019)

One of our flagship advanced workshops, with the added perk of special guests each term.

Start Date: May 7, 2019 11am
End Date: July 9, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests Thurs PM (Summer 2019)

Sold Out!

Tutor: Kathryn Maris

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Special Guests Thurs PM (Summer 2019)

One of our flagship advanced workshops, with the added perk of special guests each term

Start Date: May 9, 2019 2pm
End Date: July 11, 2019 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Extrasensory Perceptions: Fortean Poetry

£108.00 *

Tutor: Caleb Parkin

Extrasensory Perceptions: Fortean Poetry

Channel poems from phenomena just beyond our understanding

Start Date: May 11, 2019 10.30am
End Date: May 12, 2019 ( 2 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Marilyn Hacker

Translating Form (Masterclass)

How do non-native forms adapt to the English language?

Start Date: May 11, 2019 10.30am
End Date: May 11, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£108.00 *

Tutor: Ahren Warner

Go With the Flow

Shake up your poems with speed, flow and swerve

Start Date: May 18, 2019 10.30am
End Date: May 19, 2019 ( 2 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£54.00 *

Tutor: Katrina Naomi

The Big Issues

Tackle the pressing topics of the day and produce new poetry

Start Date: May 18, 2019 10.30am
End Date: May 18, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Michael Schmidt

Out for the Count: Syllabics

Work on ‘syllabicising’ poems of your own

Start Date: May 25, 2019 10.30am
End Date: May 25, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£67.50 *

Tutor: Elizabeth Parker

Poetry for Change (Bristol)

Create poems that are a force for good

Start Date: May 28, 2019 6.45pm
End Date: July 23, 2019 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Hours, Bristol

£72.00 *

Tutor: Linda Gregerson

Poetic Yield: Masterclass

Take a masterclass in rigorously rewriting and revising your poems

Start Date: June 1, 2019 10.30am
End Date: June 1, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£144.00 *

Tutor: Lucy Mercer

Divine Messengers

Open your poems to the perceptive power of dreams

Start Date: June 8, 2019 10.30am
End Date: June 9, 2019 ( 2 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Laura Scott

Feel the Fear & Write It Anyway

Take the plunge into the difficult, the dangerous and the daunting

Start Date: June 15, 2019 10.30am
End Date: June 15, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Rishi Dastidar

For the Win: The Poetry of Sport

From casual kick-around to serious competition, let adrenaline and athleticism activate your poems

Start Date: June 22, 2019 10.30am
End Date: June 22, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

The Carer: Poetry of Private & Public Spaces

£72.00 *

Tutor: Denise Saul

The Carer: Poetry of Private & Public Spaces

How can we reliably provide voices to care-givers and the cared-for?

Start Date: June 29, 2019 10.30am
End Date: June 29, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£72.00 *

Tutor: Isabel Galleymore

The Strange Stranger: Animal Poetics

Cultivate creaturely thinking and fathom the human-animal experience

Start Date: July 6, 2019 10.30am
End Date: July 6, 2019 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Show 36 More

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?

Find a Course