Short Controlled Bursts: Poems Inspired by the Movie ALIENS
A day of writing new poems, inspired by the movie ALIENS – one of the best films of the 1980s, and one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. We’re in the pipe, five by five…
* This course will take place on video-conferencing platform ZOOM *
What do you love most about ALIENS? Perhaps it’s a female action hero who can strategize an impressive survival plan, drive a loader, and soothe a traumatised child all in the same evening. Perhaps it’s the aggressive camaraderie of the marines, or do I mean the “grunts”, no offence (none taken). Perhaps it’s the special effects and intense action sequences that gave the original a run for its money and reconstituted the war movie.
Whatever it might be, we’ll look at it all – thinking and writing through the various lenses of femininity, masculinity, parenthood, action, sci-fi, cinematography, and asking ourselves what poetry can borrow from ALIENS to write our own short, controlled bursts of language.
This isn’t about workshopping or critiquing – it’ll be a fast-paced day in which we discuss clips from the film, existing poems, and generate our own new work, inspired by the thought-provoking ideas and materials that will be thrown at you. It will be fun, it will be exciting, it will be the opposite of a chickenshit outfit you want to get out of.
So, look into my eye, and join me on an express elevator to hell, to celebrate all things ALIENS and poetry. Just one thing though: will somebody wake up Hicks?
1 full-day Zoom session, running 10.30am–4.30pm (GMT) on 28 October 2023.
To apply for a concession rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to administ[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: Ars Electronica: The Art of Biomechanics
About Chrissy Williams 
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Chrissy Williams is a poet, editor and tutor based in London. Her work has been featured on BBC radio and television, and her first collection BEAR (Bloodaxe, 2017) was one of The Telegraph’s 50 Best Books of the Year. She is editor of the online journal PERVERSE. Her second collection LOW was published by Bloodaxe in May 2021.
‘Chrissy was a wonderful tutor. Interesting, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and inclusive. The activities and selected poems, along with discussion of films were extremely interesting.’
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