Poetic Forms for Beginners
Spark your creativity and take your first steps into the world of poetry!
* This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
Always wanted to write poetry, but not sure where to start? Then this is the course for you! Join us to learn more about the variety and history of poetry and equip yourself with the necessary skills to begin writing your own. On this course we will explore and discuss many forms and modes of poetry and track its evolution into the present – from sonnets to sestinas, free verse to villanelles, lyric to epic, symbolism to surrealism, prose poems to palindromes. We’ll also have a go at writing new work of our own, with in-class prompts designed to tap into your creativity and get you started on the road to becoming a proper poet!
There will be space to write in each workshop, but no feedback on poems from the group; for in-depth discussion and workshopping of your own writing, please join the partner to this course: our Beginners Workshop Group.
This course is currently in a Priority Booking period, meaning it is only available to students continuing from the previous term. We will open any remaining spaces to new students on Monday 18 November. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for this, please email [email protected].
5 fortnightly Zoom sessions on Wednesdays, 7–9pm (BST/GMT), starts 22 Jan 2024. 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: @fotios-photos
About Becky Varley-Winter 
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Becky Varley-Winter’s first full-length poetry collection, Dangerous Enough, was published by Salt in 2023. She has also published a poetry pamphlet, Heroines: On the Blue Peninsula (V. Press, 2019), was longlisted in the National Poetry Competition 2019, won the T. R. Henn and Brewer-Hall Prizes, and appeared in Poetry Review, Magma, Rising, Finished Creatures, and Tentacular, amongst others. Her other publications are a book on modernist poetry and literary fragments, Reading Fragments and Fragmentation in Modernist Literature (Sussex Academic Press, 2018), and a collection of short fiction, BLOOM (Broken Sleep Books, 2021).
"Becky creates a warm, supportive and relaxed environment in which everyone can contribute without pressure. The material and prompts are carefully chosen and inspiring."
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