Queer Objects: Sidling Up to the Subconscious
Peek at queerness out the corner of your eye and learn to write into your subconscious.
* This course will take place on the video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
‘Poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don’t know you know’ – Adrienne Rich
‘Your subconscious is the engine room of imagery’ – Caroline Bird
How can poetry help us explore queerness? How can we access our inner desires, questions, or fears? This course will offer techniques for sidling up to your subconscious and writing into unknown spaces with curiosity. We will explore moments of queer joy, moments of questioning, and moments of difference – making space to let our subconscious spill out onto the page.
Our focus will be on poets who explore queerness through images and objects. You’ll read contemporary work and ideas from exciting writers such as Mary-Jean Chan, Jaime Lock, George Parker, JP Seabright, Andrew McMillan, Nuar Alsadir, Denice Frohman, and Joy KMT.
Everyone is welcome – whether you identify as queer, love someone who is queer, or are curious about yourself. This will be an open and relaxed space to write into questions and explore. No one will be pressured to share what they write.
Through this course, you will learn what it means to write out of the corner of your eye – to find indirect ways to engage your subconscious and unleash new creativity. Using inspiration from writers who dig into queerness with objects and images, we’ll try out techniques to smuggle our inner thoughts and desires into poems.
The first class will be introducing writers and techniques. The second will introduce some more inspirational poems, with space for feedback and reflection. So join us for a course that will refresh your approach to self and queerness, and help you discover things you almost-knew about yourself.
2 x half-day sessions, running 6.30–9pm (BST), on 3 & 17 June 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: @girlwithredhat
About Kat Dixon 
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Kat Dixon is a queer writer based in London. Her poetry explores the intersections of modern life, social justice, and queer identity in a rapidly changing world. Kat’s work has been shortlisted for various prizes, including the Café Writers Prize, Verve Poetry Prize, and the Ver Prize. Her poetry appears in The Rialto, Butcher’s Dog, Queerlings, Mslexia, and fourteenpoems and others; and queer anthologies such as Spectrum and Re:Creation Anthology.
Kat teaches at events like the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and The Poetry School, sharing ideas on the role of AI tools in the creative process. A digital inclusion researcher, she is passionate about how humanity adapts to and interacts with modern technology. Her poet-sculptor collaboration at APT Gallery explores how words intersect with visual play. Kat’s debut poetry pamphlet eat the glitter is published with Broken Sleep Books.
"Poetry School courses have been great for introducing me to contemporary poetry and for helping me to reflect on my writing practice. Learning to express myself through poetry has been beneficial for my mental health, as has been connecting with like-minded people. I appreciate that the tutors are all talented poets who share insights into their craft."