Delusions of Grandma: Rewriting the Family Narrative
Explore the unseen labour, life-long love, and private languages of family relationships.
* This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
In this workshop we will play with, and push, the boundaries of praise poetry. Your family poem-portraits may not (certainly do not have to) come out optimistic, but together we’ll commit to trying out new perspectives on our oldest, hardest relationships. You will be encouraged to write freely with yourself, knowing that you can choose whether and what to share with the group.
Looking at poems by Hannah Lowe, Sharon Olds, Choman Hardi, Robert Hayden, Elizabeth Bishop, Gwyneth Lewis, and Pascale Petit, we’ll explore unseen labour, unspoken love, secret family languages, and how to become the family pet.
We will also tackle the greatest challenges of writing family, including having far too much material, and having fixed, singular perspectives of our loved ones. There will be very specific prompts to help find particular moments to extrapolate and enshrine in your poems.
1 x 2.5-hour session, running 6.30–9pm (BST), on 14 April 2025. This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM.
To apply for a concession rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. More information about how our Video Courses work can be found on the Video Courses page. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected].
Image credit:Noman Shahid
About kit griffiths 
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Kit Griffiths is an artist, film-maker and poet, working for real intimacy through mercy and redemption. Griffiths’ first poetry pamphlet was published with Earthbound Press in 2020, and they recently won third prize in the 2023 Poetry Wales annual international competition.
With DYCP support from Arts Council England, Griffiths is currently building their first full collection, a set of family portraits called Delusions of Grandma. Rooted in the idea/action of returning to and choosing your birth family after estrangement, this work combines poetry with visual arts, and is being shown as a solo project at Quench Gallery Margate in April 2024.
"The Poetry School is wonderful for someone like me with no regular writing community. I’ve discovered new poets, gained confidence in my writing and have had a number of poems written on Poetry School courses published in journals such as Magma, Southword, Tears in the Fence, Room (Canada), and The Interpreter’s House."
The Poetry of Lying & Stealing
Getting from A to B: The Poetry of Scraps
The Lyrical Eye