Discover what ghostliness and absence can become in your writing, as we trace the spectral in landscape and nature, time, and our relationships with those living and dead.


For more information and FAQs about how our courses work, please go to our In-Person Courses, Video Courses and Online Courses pages.
Discover what ghostliness and absence can become in your writing, as we trace the spectral in landscape and nature, time, and our relationships with those living and dead.
An exciting new advanced workshop group with the innovative Astrid Alben.
Get some avian inspiration and soar through poetry's many fascinations with birds.
Let’s bring to the surface ‘the mutability of earthly existence'.
Join us for this mini beast masterclass, where we'll explore what benefits insects can bring to your poems' ecosystems.
Experiment with sprawling forms, large scale works, and ambitious sequences to create a lasting impact.
Investigate the poetic potential of trees in myths, legends, and scientific sources.
Write new poems for children, inspired by Charles Causley.
Walk the streets of Cinecittà and find inspiration in the cinema of Fellini as we experiment with dreams and memories, alongside fictional and theatrical scenes in our poetry.
Mix up your writing, and learn new skills and techniques with Jacqueline Saphra.
Language is often remade and re-envisioned through poetry, join us to expand your practice and explore different techniques in this area.
An advanced weekly workshop group with the inimitable Mark Waldron.
Our long-running weekly workshop with Tim Dooley, for poets looking to develop their individual voice and technique.
Harness the power of gross and learn to dig beneath the stomach-churning to create unforgettable poems of human experience.
Explore the dynamic world of modern and contemporary poetry in German as inspiration for new poems, translations and projects of your own.
Knock your loose poems into shape with some concentrated feedback from poet and essayist, Rebecca Tamás.
Spark your creativity and take your first steps into the world of poetry!
Our weekly workshop for intermediate poets looking to develop their work.
Challenge yourself, elevate your writing, and take the next steps in your poetry career.
Channel poems from phenomena just beyond our understanding
Develop your writing through discussion and feedback in this advanced workshop with Anthony Anaxagorou.
Hone your craft, explore poetry’s inner workings, and look at techniques to help your poems achieve lift-off.
Explore how Zen Buddhism inspired modernist American Ecopoetics.
Get inspired by nonhuman ways of Being to create innovative, more-than human poetic work.
Join us to explore language from all areas of human life as sources for innovative poetry.
Bring your writing to the next level and explore contemporary poetry’s cutting-edge.
Learn to take your writing in unexpected directions and how to find the intimate in surprising places.
Explore archival writing processes to see what poetry can be developed from a life’s detritus
Use personal objects, everyday items, and your own family legends to rewrite myths into your poetry.
Explore how the study of a proud and independent poetic tradition can liberate our own approach to poetry!
Join this group for rigorous discussion of your writing with acclaimed poet Richard Price.
Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Ros Barber.
In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with Nick Makoha.
Explore strategies for launching your poems and learn how to prepare them for successful landings.
Respect our existence or expect resistance.
In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with Rebecca Watts.
Extra Summer sessions of Antony Dunn's intimate monthly seminars.
Explore the intimacy of poetry on the boundaries of the readerly and discover new possibilities for what poems can be.
Apply best practice to poetry commissions and residencies.
Dive headfirst into Surrealism and learn to push your writing into strange new places.
Explore a range of creative approaches to ekphrasis, with a focus on inclusive representation.
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 In-Person Courses, Video Courses and Online Courses pages for more detailed information about course structures, process and what to expect.
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:
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.
‘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