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In-person Courses

Write more poems

In-person 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 in-person 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 In-person Courses

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Astrid Alben [Autumn 2023]

Tutor: Astrid Alben

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Astrid Alben [Autumn 2023]

An exciting new advanced workshop group with the innovative Astrid Alben.

Start Date: October 3, 2023 6.45–8.45pm
End Date: December 5, 2023 ( 64 Days )
Type: In-person • Location: Poetry School, London

Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines: The Sonnet

Tutor: Tristram Fane Saunders

Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines: The Sonnet

Explore wild, untamed sonnets as inspiration for original new poems of your own in the world’s greatest verse form.

Start Date: October 7, 2023 10.30am–4.30pm
End Date: October 7, 2023 ( 1 Day )
Type: In-person • Location: Poetry School, London

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber [Autumn 2023]

Tutor: Ros Barber

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber [Autumn 2023]

Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Ros Barber.

Start Date: October 21, 2023 10.30am–4.30pm
End Date: December 16, 2023 ( 57 Days )
Type: In-person • Location: Poetry School, London

Go Large: Writing & Sustaining Longer Poems

Tutor: Katrina Naomi

Go Large: Writing & Sustaining Longer Poems

Show your ambition and go large as we explore approaches to extended poetic endeavours.

Start Date: November 11, 2023 10.30am–4.30pm
End Date: November 11, 2023 ( 1 Day )
Type: In-person • Location: Poetry School, London

Poetry Surgery with Penny Boxall

Tutor: Penny Boxall

Poetry Surgery with Penny Boxall

In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with poet and tutor Penny Boxall.

Start Date: November 23, 2023 10.30am–4.45pm
End Date: November 23, 2023 ( 1 Day )
Type: In-person • Location: Poetry School, London

HOW IN-PERSON COURSES 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 in-person 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 in-person 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 in-person 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 [email protected] for help with any course queries you might have.

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.

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

Contact us and ask to be put on a waiting list - if any places come free, we will let you know.

Lost property?

If you think you may have left something in one of the classrooms at Somerset House, please email [email protected] or get in touch with us at admin@poetryschool.com.

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

Please send an email to [email protected] and we will inform the tutor.

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.