Poetry of Hours
How do we translate the pain of losing love into poetry?
In this session, we shall explore the loss of love, i.e. the death of a beloved, the end of a relationship, the betrayal of a lover, the pain and sorrow of losing love. Imagine you are visiting an art gallery and you try to capture the intensity of the images in front of you. As a poet, you are on a journey of discovery. How intense is your experience? We shall read and discuss verse written by George Bacovia (1881–1957), one of Romania’s greatest poets.
We shall write new poems inspired by the participants’ own photographs, focusing on what had occurred before the picture was taken, in the very moment of taking the snapshot and what might have happened after. We shall consider drafting, editing and titling our new poems before rehearsing and performing them and finishing with a final round of feedback on the work
One off In-person Session on Saturday 4 May, 10.30am–1pm (BST). This course will take place at Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA.
Concessions & Accessibility
To apply for a concessionary rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]; conditions of eligibility are detailed here. If you have any questions, wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, or require any form of adjustment to access our courses, please email [email protected]. For more information visit our In Person Courses page.
Image credit: Laura Rivera
About M.C. Gardner 
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M.C. Gardner, MSc is an alumna of Southbank Centre New Poets Collective 2022-2023. She is an Anglo-Romanian author of several books of bilingual verse and prose focused on the human condition and diversity, on love altered by time, on impressions of exile and alienation. She is an essayist and a literary translator. Her poems and short stories are included in anthologies, collections and online in the USA, UK, Germany, Romania, France and Italy. Her writing has been translated into eight languages. Her bilingual volume of verse Travellers/ Călători was published by Criterion Publishing, USA (2001). Her volume of verse Poems was published by Exiled Writers Ink UK (2009). Her bilingual book of verse Oglinda cu vise/ Le miroir aux rêves was published by Éditions Poètes à vos plumes, Paris (2016). Her bilingual volumes of verse, Patagonia/ O sută de ani and Maelstrom were published in Romania in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Her humorous prose – Little Indiscretions and Myfanwy’s Little Indiscretions/ A Lockdown Diary – is currently on sale on Amazon.com. She was one of a community group of script co-writers at A Carnival of Errors Project in partnership with Before I Go Theatre, Theatre Royal Norwich and Royal Shakespeare Company (2022).
"The course stimulated new ideas and encouraged a consistency in my writing practice. It was good to feel let of a group and share feedback."
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