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Start writing poetry, today

Join us in reading, writing, editing and translating poetry, in year-long courses, short courses, workshops, one-day sessions, seminars, tutorials and every variety of learning in between – in our classrooms, off site and online.

For more information and FAQs about how our courses work, please go to our Face-to-Face Courses, Online Courses and Downloads pages.

All our Courses

Intermediate Poetry Workshop with Tim Dooley (Summer 2021)

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Tutor: Tim Dooley

Intermediate Poetry Workshop with Tim Dooley (Summer 2021)

Tim Dooley’s weekly workshop for poets looking to develop their individual voice and technique.

Start Date: May 5, 2021 2.00pm
End Date: July 14, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Advanced Poetry Workshop with Mark Waldron (Summer 2021)

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

Start Date: May 5, 2021 6.45pm
End Date: July 7, 2021 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

The Possibility of Everything: Writing Experimental Poetry

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Tutor: James Davies

The Possibility of Everything: Writing Experimental Poetry

An advanced tour through avant-garde writing with the editor of experimental poetry press, if p then q.

Start Date: May 5, 2021
End Date: July 28, 2021 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online

‘Concept Books’ & Cumulative Writing (International, Summer 2021)

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Tutor: Shazea Quraishi

‘Concept Books’ & Cumulative Writing (International, Summer 2021)

Explore writing around a unifying idea to create a multi-faceted, cumulative 'concept book’.

Start Date: May 5, 2021
End Date: July 21, 2021 ( 78 Days )
Type: Online

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Tutor: Meryl Pugh

First Encounters (Summer 2021)

Take your first steps into the world of poetry!

Start Date: May 6, 2021 6.45pm
End Date: July 8, 2021 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

Fortnightly Feedback with André Naffis-Sahely (Summer 2021)

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Tutor: André Naffis-Sahely

Fortnightly Feedback with André Naffis-Sahely (Summer 2021)

Knock your loose poems into shape with some concentrated feedback from expert editor and poet, André Naffis-Sahely.

Start Date: May 6, 2021
End Date: July 15, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Richard Price (Summer 2021)

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Tutor: Richard Price

Advanced Poetry Workshop with Richard Price (Summer 2021)

Develop your writing through discussion and feedback in this advanced workshop with Richard Price.

Start Date: May 7, 2021 11.00am
End Date: July 16, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Tutor: Richard Scott and James Womack

Overenthusiastic Translation

Break down and build up again: look at the work of non-English poets from the past and uncover the clues they can offer your own practice.

Start Date: May 8, 2021 10.30am
End Date: May 22, 2021 ( 15 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Tutor: Liz Berry

Poetry Surgery with Liz Berry

In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with Liz Berry.

Start Date: May 8, 2021 10.30am
End Date: May 8, 2021 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Summer 2021)

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Tutor: Ros Barber

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Summer 2021)

Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Ros Barber.

Start Date: May 8, 2021 10.30am
End Date: July 3, 2021 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Tutor: Wayne Holloway-Smith

What Now? (Advanced, Summer 2021)

Take the next steps in your poetry career and explore contemporary poetry’s cutting-edge.

Start Date: May 10, 2021 6.45pm
End Date: July 19, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

Poetry Dinner Party: The Old & the New Studio+

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Tutor: Phoebe Power

Poetry Dinner Party: The Old & the New Studio+

Bring voices from literary history into conversation with present-day poetics to expand your own writing.

Start Date: May 10, 2021
End Date: June 14, 2021 ( 36 Days )
Type: Online

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Tutor: Wayne Holloway-Smith

What Now? (Intermediate, Summer 2021)

Bring your poetry to the next level and explore contemporary poetry’s cutting-edge.

Start Date: May 11, 2021 6.45pm
End Date: July 13, 2021 ( 64 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

Integrated Circuits: Creating Digital Poetry (Summer 2021)

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Tutor: Maya Chowdhry

Integrated Circuits: Creating Digital Poetry (Summer 2021)

Leap from page to screen and create interactive poems fit for our digital age.

Start Date: May 11, 2021
End Date: July 13, 2021 ( 64 Days )
Type: Online

Shifting Landscape: Ecopoetics, the Body, & Science of Time (International)

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Tutor: Elena Karina Byrne

Shifting Landscape: Ecopoetics, the Body, & Science of Time (International)

Embody the natural world and become the speaking body of nature in your work.

Start Date: May 12, 2021
End Date: July 21, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

Transreading Ukrainian poetry: ‘a crimson bush amidst silence’

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Tutor: Steve Komarnyckyj

Transreading Ukrainian poetry: ‘a crimson bush amidst silence’

Explore one of the world's greatest neglected literatures in Transreading Ukrainian poetry.

Start Date: May 12, 2021
End Date: July 21, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

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Tutor: Jonathan Edwards

Poetry & The Family

Explore sensitive and truthful ways to represent family relationships in your work.

Start Date: May 12, 2021
End Date: July 21, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

Ars Poetica: Cold Showers & Restless Sheets

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Tutor: Sam Buchan-Watts

Ars Poetica: Cold Showers & Restless Sheets

Test the limits of ‘ars poetica’ to ask whether all poems are really about poetry?

Start Date: May 12, 2021
End Date: July 21, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

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Lyric Poetry & Poetic Lyrics (International)

Read and write poetry, listen to music, take inspiration from lyrics, and consider the connections between them all.

Start Date: May 13, 2021
End Date: July 22, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

£109.00 *

Tutor: Zakia Carpenter-Hall

Myth, Body, Belief (Summer 2021)

Start to depict your own multitudes and forge pathways of poetic connection.

Start Date: May 13, 2021
End Date: July 22, 2021 ( 71 Days )
Type: Online

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Tutor: Rebecca Levi

Poetry that Travels

After a year spent in one place, join us for some poetic travel!

Start Date: May 13, 2021 7.00pm
End Date: July 8, 2021 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Tutor: Becky Varley-Winter

Soundscapes

Explore poetry as a musical instrument, to develop your skills with rhythm and musicality.

Start Date: May 20, 2021 7.00pm
End Date: July 15, 2021 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

Libations: Exploring the Inner Spring Studio

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Tutor: Belinda Zhawi

Libations: Exploring the Inner Spring Studio

Reconnect with, and celebrate, the world around you through poetry.

Start Date: May 26, 2021
End Date: June 23, 2021 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online

£150.00 *

Tutor: Glyn Maxwell

Dark Canadee

Calling Poets, Pirates, and Dreamers; come sail with us to Dark Canadee.

Start Date: May 28, 2021
Type: Online

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Tutor: Kathryn Simmonds

Let There be Poems!

Consider how one might write poems of faith in this more secular age.

Start Date: June 5, 2021 10.30am
End Date: June 12, 2021 ( 8 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face

Caledonia Dreamin': Exploring Scotland's Poetry

£75.00 *

Tutor: Richard Price

Caledonia Dreamin': Exploring Scotland's Poetry

Take a tour of Scottish poetry with expert guide, Richard Price.

Start Date: June 12, 2021 10.30am
End Date: July 3, 2021 ( 22 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

‘I Know That is Poetry’: A Reading & Writing Workshop

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Tutor: Eve Grubin

‘I Know That is Poetry’: A Reading & Writing Workshop

Explore the work of Emily Dickinson for inspiration in your own writing.

Start Date: June 16, 2021 6.30pm
End Date: June 30, 2021 ( 15 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

'The Owls Are Not What They Seem’: Writing Poems Inspired by Twin Peaks

£75.00 *

Tutor: Chrissy Williams

'The Owls Are Not What They Seem’: Writing Poems Inspired by Twin Peaks

Across the room, a giant waves his arms in slow-motion as the music fades – poetry is happening again.

Start Date: June 19, 2021 10.30am
End Date: June 19, 2021 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Tutor: Caroline Bergvall

Site-Specific Writing Studio

After being cooped up inside for so long, take your writing into the world and get site-specific.

Start Date: June 23, 2021
End Date: July 21, 2021 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online

A House of Many Rooms: The Sonnet Sequence

£150.00 *

Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

A House of Many Rooms: The Sonnet Sequence

Find your ‘big idea’ and get to work on a propulsive new sonnet sequence with an expert in the field!

Start Date: June 26, 2021 10:30am
End Date: July 10, 2021 ( 15 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

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Tutor: Fiona Benson

Poetry Surgery with Fiona Benson

In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with Fiona Benson.

Start Date: July 10, 2021 10.30am
End Date: July 10, 2021 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

£75.00 *

Tutor: Sarah Westcott and Joe Beale

Looking at Lichens

Join us for an inspiring day of reading, writing, and discussion, alongside some practical exploration of lichens!

Start Date: July 17, 2021 10:30am
End Date: July 17, 2021 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

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How it works

The Poetry School’s teaching year runs over three ‘terms’ – Autumn, Spring and Summer. Each term we offer around 40-50 courses and workshops that cater to a variety of levels, varying in length and subject matter. The course programme changes every term with more new courses, workshops and tutors, but often includes courses that run over three terms and popular repeats.

We offer both ‘classroom’ teaching (UK) and ‘virtual’ teaching (international). You can visit our Face-to-Face Courses and Online Courses pages for more detailed information about course structures, process and what to expect.

Finding the right Course

Most of our courses and workshops accommodate writers with a wide range of experience, but some are specifically designed for beginners or more practicised poets.

Here are our definitions:

Beginner – Learning the ropes: beginning to write poetry.
Intermediate – Starting to develop your voice, generate more work and grow confident on the page.
Advanced – Able to confidently edit, hone, discuss and critique your poetry.

Our programme is developed around these three teaching levels, although we also offer many courses that are Open to all – courses aimed at all levels, often focusing on a specific theme or inspirational subject matter.

FAQ

What is poetry?

There is no one answer, and many, many people have their own ideas. Here are some definitions we like:

‘Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm’ – OED

‘Poetry is a heightened imagistic use of language that does things to the heart and head’ – Grace Nichols

‘A made thing, a verbal construct, an event in language’ – Edward Hirsch

‘Poetry is memorable speech’ – W H Auden

‘Poetry does not explain life. It gives life to feeling and seeing’ – Sarah Stetie

‘Why, Sir, it is much easier to say what it is not’ – Samuel Johnson

I’m already publishing and performing poetry – what can you do to help me?

We have an expanding programme of projects and activities which seek to address the continuing professional development needs of practising poets, from residencies to enhanced publishing, editing and performance opportunities and beyond. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest details.

Will the Poetry School help me become a poet?

Since 1997, when the Poetry School was founded, our students have gone on to publish in magazines and online; they've produced pamphlets and books as poets and editors with publishers from the smallest independents to the largest commercial houses; they've won multiple prizes and awards; they've become poetry tutors themselves; they've moved on to take poetry MAs and PhDs.; they’ve set up performance nights, magazines, shows and events. While we can't guarantee that all students will go on to get published; serious engagement with the art and craft of poetry in the company of tutors and fellow students who are as passionate about the form as you are can only ever improve your chances of getting your work out to a wider audience.

Join us in reading, writing, editing and translating poetry, in year-long courses, short courses, workshops, one-day sessions, seminars, tutorials and every variety of learning in between – in our classrooms, off site and online.

All our Courses

Find a Course

How it works

Finding the right Course

FAQ

What is poetry?

I’m already publishing and performing poetry – what can you do to help me?

Will the Poetry School help me become a poet?