featured Articles
How I Did It: Karen McCarthy Woolf
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2026 ‘How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their book. Here’s Karen McCarthy Woolf on what inspired her to write the extract from page 44 of her poetry…
Karen McCarthy Woolf
How I Did It: Tishani Doshi
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2026 ‘How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their book. Here’s Tishani Doshi on what inspired her to write the title poem from Egrets, While War. Read the…
Tishani Doshi
5 Facts You Might Not Know About Robert Frost
Robert Frost is arguably one of the most famous poets of all time, but how much do you really know about him? Jodie Hollander who is running ‘The Road Not Taken’: Reading & Writing Robert Frost with us this Autumn gives us some interesting facts about the American poet. Image credit: Public Domain 1. He…
Jodie Hollander
How I Did It: Caroline Smith
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2026 ‘How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their book. Here’s Caroline Smith on what inspired her to write the poem ‘Removal’ in Bycatch. Read the full poem…
Caroline Smith
4 Poets Who Innovated Typographical Poetry
Interested in the poetry of typographical innovation? Lydia Kennaway, who is teaching her London course Fontasia: Poetry & Rebellious Typography this October tells us about four poets who innovated the appearance of poetic text. George Herbert Herbert is often presented as a forerunner of Concrete or Visual Poetry, with ‘Easter Wings’ his most well-known example,…
Lydia Kennaway
How I Did It: Sarah Howe
Welcome to our Forward Prizes 2026 ‘How I Did It’ series. This year we asked poets shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Best Collection to write about the inspiration behind one of the poems from their book. Here’s Sarah Howe on what inspired her to write the poem ‘A History of my Relationship with my…
Sarah Howe
5 Tips for Writing About Death in Poetry
Writing about death in poetry can be extremely challenging, so Sascha Akhtar, who is teaching her course Somebody’s Walking Over My Grave this October, has put together some tips for finding the right words to use in your writing. 1. Feel Emotion is frowned upon in Western culture, both in our workspaces, often within family…
Sascha Akhtar
5 Essential Systems for Working Writers
We can’t all be dreamy and disorganised writers – some of us have to know how to send an invoice. Christy Ku, who is running her course The Business of Poetry this Autumn, is here to provide practical knowledge to support your creative self as a working writer. 1. Create a payments tracker When you…
Christy Ku
5 Ways to Experiment with Composition in Poetry
Want to play around with fragmentation and erasure in your writing? Melanie Hyo-In Han who is teaching her Online course Broken Open: Experimenting with Erasure, Fragmentation, Visual, & Translingual Poetry with us this Autumn, talks us through her top 5 ways writers can experiment with composition in poetry. 1. Erase Take an existing text (a…
Melanie Hyo-In Han
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Brandon Kilbourne
Brandon Kilbourne has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about him and his poem ‘Blindfold Wonder’ from his collection Natural History. Image credit: Jamila K. Grote About Brandon Brandon Kilbourne has a PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Chicago and over twenty years of experience as a research biologist at natural…
Poetry School
4 Poets Who Shaped Confessional Poetry
Confessional poetry was a significant development in twentieth-century American writing, characterised by poets who explored deeply personal experiences, emotions, and struggles in their work. Poet and Poetry School tutor Nisha Bhakoo who will be teaching her Online course, The Confessional Studio, with us this Autumn, discusses the writers at the forefront of this literary wave….
Nisha Bhakoo
5 Approaches to Writing with the More-than-Human
What happens when we combine human language with fungal, plant, insect, bird, and animal methods of communication? Camilla Nelson who will be teaching her Online course, BECOMING: Transreading Interspecies Empathy & Innovative Poetics, with us this Autumn, gives us some approaches for writing poetry from a non-human perspective. FUNGUS Read letters as spores. Choose a poem…
Camilla Nelson
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Laura Wainwright
Laura Wainwright has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about her and her poem ‘River Roses’ from her collection The Storm’s Flora. About Laura Laura Wainwright is from Newport, South Wales. Her debut poetry collection, The Storm’s Flora (Seren), was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize 2026 and won the Wales…
Poetry School
Laurel Prize Shortlist 2026: Jane Lovell
Jane Lovell has been shortlisted for this year’s Laurel Prize 2026! Read more about her and her poem ‘Gyrfalcon’ from her collection Tipping Point. Image credit: Christopher Jelley About Jane Winner of the Ginkgo Prize, Jane Lovell explores the shifting relationship between people and the natural world. Her latest collection, Tipping Point, draws on polar exploration,…
Poetry School
Shortlist Announcement: The Laurel Prize 2026
The Poetry School and UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage are delighted to announce the shortlist for The Laurel Prize 2026, rewarding the best nature and environmental poetry books of the year. This prize is funded by Simon Armitage’s Laureate’s honorarium, which he receives annually from the King, and is run by the Poetry School. It…
Beth Evans (Poetry School)
FAQs for Autumn Term 2026
Our Autumn Courses have now launched! We’ve put together a list of FAQs you may find useful – so whether you are a new or returning student, make sure to give them a read before you book… Autumn Term: Your Questions Answered Where can I find the Autumn Courses? We have put together an Autumn…
Poetry School
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter today to receive all the latest news, updates and opportunities at The Poetry School! This newsletter will provide you with all the updates on: We also love to give a shout out to all our student and tutor poetry successes, so if you have a poetry success you’d like to share…
Poetry School
September Sessions: 10 Years of the MA in Writing in Poetry
To celebrate 10 years of the MA in Writing in Poetry, we are delighted to announce a series of exciting zoom workshops tutored by fresh voices from our MA Graduates taking place this September! Check out our fantastic line up and make sure you book your place soon to avoid disappointment. Thursday 3 September A…
Poetry School
4 Poems for Times of Crisis
Shazea Quraishi, who teaches her popular course Lighting the World: Writing in Times of Crisis, recommends her top 4 poems that demonstrate writing in response to times of crisis. Image credit: @usgs Crisis comes from the Greek ‘krisis’, meaning decision. In English it was first used in a medical context to refer to the decisive, turning…
Shazea Quraishi
6 tips to Improve your Writing
Wondering where to start with refining your writing practise? Leah Umansky shares her top tips which will help you improve your poetry. 1. Read (and Take Note!) Keep some kind of journal, whether it be one for the morning, when you wake up, or one for evening, before bed. I also have a small journal…
Leah Umansky
Avoiding Poetic Clichés
Worried about poetic clichés in your writing? If your poems are feeling a little too familiar, these courses might help you shift gear. Sometimes a small shift is all it takes to approach a poem and get things moving again. Check out our selection of courses designed to help you see your work differently. Determination…
Poetry School
Finding Your Poetic Inspiration
Are you stuck in a writers’ block, or struggling to find that spark of inspiration for writing new poetry? Finding inspiration for your poetry can be tricky at times, so we’ve put together a list of our courses which include a variety of themes guaranteed to unlock new ideas and get those creative juices flowing! Poems…
Poetry School
Feedback, Originality, & Ownership in Poetry Workshops with Matthew Caley (part 3)
In this series, we interview our tutors about poetry and its place in their world. These interviews will cover creative writing tips, excelling in a poetry workshop, building a literary career, and finding your poetic voice. Here’s the third and final part of Matthew Caley discussing feedback, originality & ownership in workshops. You can read…
Matthew Caley
How do I know if my Poem is Working?
Ever felt like your poem just isn’t working, or that there’s something missing but you’re not sure what? Receiving feedback from fellow writers, and getting tips from esteemed tutors, is the best way to finetune those poems and get them ready for submission. We have a range of workshops for poets of all abilities. Check…
Poetry School
Summer 2026 – Quick Course Guide
Our Summer Term is now live! We have a whole host of brilliant tutors and poetry courses ready for you to pick from and, as they tend to sell out really fast, we’ve made this Summer 2026 Quick Course Guide to help guide you to the right course. Online Courses INTERNATIONAL Online courses without Live…
Poetry School