Transitions, Translations, Transformations, Transreading
Kinetic poetics, shifts and what they might reveal.
This course explores poetic language through the Protean lens of transitions (life transitions, travel and exposure to other cultures, languages, and ways of thinking); translations (work on producing several versions of a poem from another language); and transformations (reflecting on how the language of our poems/ and of the poems written by major poets transforms over time i.e. what we mean by “early Yeats”? etc.)
What does poetic language know but keeps to itself – like Proteus, who changes shape to adapt and who is able to see into the future? Each session will involve reading and discussion of example poems and guided writing assignments to help you produce new drafts.
Along the way, we’ll read and discuss published poems, including ‘When Giving is All We Have’ by Alberto Rios, ‘Transformation’ by Adam Zagajeswski, and several versions of ‘The Lemon Trees’ by Eugenio Montales, amongst many others.
5 fortnightly sessions over 10 weeks, starting 12 May 2025. No live chats. Suitable for UK & International students.
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 or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected]. For more information visit our Online Courses page.
Image credit: @Pixabay
About Carmen Bugan 
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Dr. Carmen Bugan, a George Orwell Prize Fellow, is a prize-winning poet and writer who has published ten books including poetry, memoir, and literary criticism. Her new and selected poems, Lilies from America was a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. Her memoir, Burying the Typewriter won the Bakeless Nonfiction Prize, was shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and was serialized for radio as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Her book of essays, Poetry and the Language of Oppression (Oxford University Press) was named an “essential book for writers” by Poets and Writers. Bugan appears at book fairs and festivals such as the London Book Fair, the Cork Literary Festival, The Goteborg Book Fair, and Le Livre sur les Quais (Morges, Switzerland) and lectures widely at universities in Europe, Middle East, and the United States. She is a member of the Geneva Writers Group and of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. She teaches memoir, creative writing, and provides book doctoring and private tutorials. Her book of poems, Tristia, is published in January 2025.
"Every course introduces me to new poems & new poets, references for further reading, and new ways of thinking about starting points for writing. My confidence in writing poetry has increased massively thanks to the Poetry School courses."
Advanced Poetry Workshop with Astrid Alben
Flowers of Evil: Transreading the French Romantic Poets
The Poetics of Latin American Resistance: “Yo Vengo a Ofrecer Mi Poema / I Come to Offer My Poem”