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Video Courses

Fully digital face-to-face courses, held online and accessible from around the world

Face-to-face teaching is now available remotely through our Zoom-based courses

On our video courses, a group of students meet on Zoom 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 Video Courses

Women, Writing, & Place

Tutor: Abbi Parcell

Women, Writing, & Place

Use your writing to explore personal identity and the intersections that shape us.

Start Date: March 1, 2025
End Date: March 15, 2025 ( 15 Days )
Type: Video

Conditions of Invisibility & Creation of the Self, after Gboyega Odubanjo

Tutor: Rachel Long

Conditions of Invisibility & Creation of the Self, after Gboyega Odubanjo

Gboyega: Locating selfhood, seen-ness, and invisibility in Adam. Decent.

Start Date: March 11, 2025 6.30pm
End Date: March 25, 2025 ( 15 Days )
Type: Video

Writing What Can’t Be Said

Tutor: Eve Grubin

Writing What Can’t Be Said

Risk and reward – saying un-sayable things.

Start Date: March 20, 2025 2–4.30pm
End Date: March 20, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Poetry & Divination: Generating Poems Through Ritual & Symbol

Tutor: Oakley Flanagan

Poetry & Divination: Generating Poems Through Ritual & Symbol

Explore divination as a daily ritual that can be incorporated into any writers’ practice.

Start Date: April 7, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 7, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

The Lyrical Eye

Tutor: Pẹ̀lúmi Obasaju

The Lyrical Eye

Find poetry in everything as we explore the lyric form.

Start Date: April 8, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 8, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Serving Looks: The Poetics of Clothing

Tutor: Christy Ku

Serving Looks: The Poetics of Clothing

Delve into the fabric of what we wear and why to serve fire new looks in your poetry.

Start Date: April 9, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 9, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Lunchtime Epiphanies: Writing Inspired by the Everyday

Tutor: Rory Aaron

Lunchtime Epiphanies: Writing Inspired by the Everyday

Discover the art of capturing fleeting moments and imbuing them with poetic significance.

Start Date: April 10, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 10, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Into The Woods: A Poetic Exploration of Stephen Sondheim

Tutor: A.C. Smith

Into The Woods: A Poetic Exploration of Stephen Sondheim

'Into the woods without delay / But careful not to lose the way.'

Start Date: April 11, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 11, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Voiced Up! Finding Your Poetic Voice

Tutor: Kaz Reeves

Voiced Up! Finding Your Poetic Voice

Challenge and choice in developing your voice.

Start Date: April 12, 2025 2–4.30pm
End Date: April 12, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

The Poetry of Lying & Stealing

Tutor: William Wyld

The Poetry of Lying & Stealing

Free your practice as we dive into the murky waters of lying, stealing, & unreliable narration.

Start Date: April 13, 2025 2–4.30pm
End Date: April 13, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Delusions of Grandma: Rewriting the Family Narrative

Tutor: kit griffiths

Delusions of Grandma: Rewriting the Family Narrative

Explore the unseen labour, life-long love, and private languages of family relationships.

Start Date: April 14, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 14, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Getting from A to B: The Poetry of Scraps

Tutor: Jordan Hayward

Getting from A to B: The Poetry of Scraps

Take left turns and unusual routes, as we explode the expected in your poetic journey.

Start Date: April 15, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 15, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

Link & Change: An Introduction to Renga

Tutor: Erica Hesketh

Link & Change: An Introduction to Renga

Enjoy close exploration of this exquisite Japanese form.

Start Date: April 16, 2025 6.30–9pm
End Date: April 16, 2025 ( 1 Day )
Type: Video

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HOW VIDEO WORKS

Tutor and students meet on Zoom for an online 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 between the sessions.

Our video 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 video 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

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 video courses:

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.

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.