Courses

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

‘Where I’m From’: Poetry & Place (Masterclass)

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Tutor: Jonathan Edwards

‘Where I’m From’: Poetry & Place (Masterclass)

Use poetry to sing, celebrate, curse, and investigate place.

Start Date: May 6, 2020
End Date: August 5, 2020 ( 92 Days )
Type: Online

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Summer 2020)

£177.00 *

Tutor: Ros Barber

Saturday Sessions with Ros Barber (Summer 2020)

Monthly all-day Saturday workshops with Ros Barber.

Start Date: May 16, 2020 10.30am
End Date: July 11, 2020 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

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Tutor: Jonathan Edwards

"The Wild" with Jonathan Edwards – Pt. II

Take a walk on the wild side to explore the extraordinary power that animals can bring into your poems.

Start Date: June 6, 2020 12pm
End Date: August 1, 2020 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online

‘I knew what was going to happen and I was right’: Poetry & TV Studio

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Tutor: Jenna Clake

‘I knew what was going to happen and I was right’: Poetry & TV Studio

We hear Netflix are scouting for the next great sonnet series.

Start Date: June 23, 2020
End Date: July 21, 2020 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online

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Tutor: Mary Jean Chan

Poetry Surgery with Mary Jean Chan

In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with Mary Jean Chan

Start Date: June 26, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Fighting the Tyrant: Political & Personal Poetry (International)

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Tutor: Leah Umansky

Fighting the Tyrant: Political & Personal Poetry (International)

Move between the personal and political to explore the power of poetry in fighting tyrants.

Start Date: June 29, 2020
End Date: September 21, 2020 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online

£95.00

Tutor: Leah Umansky

Poetry Surgery with Leah Umansky

In-depth 1-2-1 discussion on your poetry with Leah Umansky

Start Date: July 1, 2020
End Date: July 1, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face, Online • Location: Poetry School, London

The Poetry of Magic: the Poet as Seer, Witch, & Shaman

£150.00 *

Tutor: Sascha Akhtar

The Poetry of Magic: the Poet as Seer, Witch, & Shaman

Explore ancient notions in contemporary times and write new poems as a seer, magi, witch, healer, and shaman.

Start Date: July 6, 2020
End Date: September 28, 2020 ( 85 Days )
Type: Online

Beyond Ekphrasis: Poetry & Visual Art Studio

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Tutor: Sam Buchan-Watts

Beyond Ekphrasis: Poetry & Visual Art Studio

Push beyond descriptive writing to explore alternative techniques to engaging with visual art in your poetry.

Start Date: July 8, 2020
End Date: August 5, 2020 ( 29 Days )
Type: Online

The Language Art: Modern Art & Poetry – Studio+

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Tutor: sjfowler

The Language Art: Modern Art & Poetry – Studio+

Explore the intersections between the post-war traditions of modern art and avant-garde poetry.

Start Date: July 13, 2020
End Date: August 17, 2020 ( 36 Days )
Type: Online

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Tutor: Liz Berry

Try a Little Tenderness: Masterclass

If we must first write from the heart in order to write poems for the heart, how do we begin this tender work?

Start Date: September 12, 2020 10.30am
End Date: September 12, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£95.00 *

Tutor: Liz Berry

Transformative Poetry

Transform yourself and the world around you through the power of poetry.

Start Date: September 26, 2020 12pm
End Date: December 5, 2020 ( 71 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: The Pen Museum, Birmingham

£75.00 *

Tutor: Meena Kandasamy

Writing Love in a Second Language

Explore the effects of living, and writing, between multiple languages.

Start Date: September 26, 2020 10.30am-4.30pm
End Date: September 26, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£100.00 *

Tutor: Ben See and Guest Tutors

Where Words Meet Music

Put a spring in your step with this brand new 6-week course exploring the relationship between words and music.

Start Date: September 29, 2020 7–9.30pm
End Date: November 3, 2020 ( 36 Days )
Type: Events, Face-to-Face • Location:

’The Ladder is always There’ – What makes a Feminist Poem?

£95.00 *

Tutor: Jacqueline Saphra

’The Ladder is always There’ – What makes a Feminist Poem?

Spend some time reading and discussing a huge range of feminist poetry. Expect to be surprised, infuriated, and inspired.

Start Date: October 1, 2020 6.45pm
End Date: November 26, 2020 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£95.00 *

Tutor: Jennie Osborne

Voices of the Sea

Join us on a voyage into the blue, as we dive to the Marianas Trench, spot white whales, and attempt to clean up the Pacific trash vortex.

Start Date: October 6, 2020 7pm
End Date: December 1, 2020 ( 57 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Exeter Community Centre, Exeter

‘The Gaps Between the Stories’: White Space, Redaction, & Erasure

£75.00 *

Tutor: Tamar Yoseloff

‘The Gaps Between the Stories’: White Space, Redaction, & Erasure

Explore visual techniques and play with omissions, erasure, and negative space to expand your poetic practice.

Start Date: October 17, 2020 10.30am-4.30pm
End Date: October 17, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£150.00 *

Tutor: Hannah Lowe

X-Lit: Ways into Memoir

An intensive weekend exploring life writing with acclaimed poet and memoirist Hannah Lowe.

Start Date: November 7, 2020 10.30am
End Date: November 8, 2020 ( 2 Days )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Window, Mirror, Knife, Disaster, & Reinvention: Poetry of Glass

£75.00 *

Tutor: Judy Brown

Window, Mirror, Knife, Disaster, & Reinvention: Poetry of Glass

Wipe off your monocle, have your glass armonica tuned, move the tomatoes into the greenhouse, and smash the glass ceiling with Judy Brown.

Start Date: November 14, 2020 10.30am
End Date: November 14, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

£75.00 *

Tutor: Ali Lewis

Stealing, Copying, & Arguing

Get light-fingered and argumentative with other artists to take your own writing to new places.

Start Date: November 21, 2020 10.30am-4.30pm
End Date: November 21, 2020 ( 1 Day )
Type: Face-to-Face • Location: Poetry School, London

Euphony: Poetic Sound & the Subconscious

£75.00 *

Tutor: Martha Sprackland

Euphony: Poetic Sound & the Subconscious

Listen to your poems’ concerto of sounds as a way to explore their subconscious drives.

Start Date: November 28, 2020 10.30am-4.30pm
End Date: November 28, 2020 ( 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?