featured Articles
‘The Yeti’
I met the Yeti in Tibet. In the Lhakpa La, by the Rongbuk glacier, northeast of Everest, we met. I: [the ice in my eyes] … Dad? And, he: [doing seemingly nothing but shuffling around in the snow] He was, I knew, founded on grains of truth. Host to his parasites, scalp to hallux, hair…
Jeremy Noel-TodHow I Did It: ‘the Interrupters’
the Interrupters no two can meet the way we have met WS Graham a foyet like the day of the dead for it is full with missing children this is how violence starts, first the perception of a slight of an insult within the context of a culture that has taught the imperative that you…
sjfowlerHow I Did It: ‘The Ballad of the Small-Boned Daughter’
Shafilea Ahmed died in September 2003 aged 17. She was a British Pakistani girl from Warrington, Cheshire. She was a beautiful and spirited girl who was murdered in a so called ‘honour killing’ by her parents. Like so many others I watched the long gruesome trial in 2012 when her parents were finally convicted of…
Mona Arshi
Autumn 2015: New Courses and Workshops
Here’s a quick look at what’s on offer for our Autumn Term (beginning 14 September 2015). To find out about a particular course or tutor, follow the title links or call us to enquire on 0207 582 1679. If you’d like to print out a copy of our brochure to look through at home, you can…
Poetry SchoolMA in Writing Poetry – now open for applications
We are delighted to announce that our MA in Writing Poetry in collaboration with Newcastle University is now open for applications. The two year course starts in September 2015, and you can study in one of two centres: the Poetry School’s Lambeth Walk classrooms in London, or at Newcastle University itself. Both groups of students…
Poetry SchoolHow I Did It: ‘Mort-Dieu’
It’s tempting to look at the title poem of An Aviary of Small Birds, as it not only expresses a literary influence (in particular, the poem references a mythical bird the Octobrine as coined by Pablo Neruda) but also encapsulates the high note I was reaching for, as a lyric and an elegy. However, the…
Karen McCarthy Woolf
The Line Break Ep #2 – Kwame Dawes: This Is Our Heart
THE LINE BREAK EPISODE
Poetry SchoolAn announcement from our Director
After six years as Director of the Poetry School, I will be stepping down from the role this summer. The Poetry School’s Board of Trustees will lead the search for a new Director with details of the recruitment process to be announced shortly. Although my time as Director will officially end in mid-August I will…
Ollie DawsonPrimers: Guide Your Poems Into Print
Primers: guide your poems into print with the Poetry School and Nine Arches Press The Poetry School and Nine Arches Press are delighted to announce the arrival of Primers, a new annual scheme creating a unique opportunity for talented poets to find publication and receive a programme of supportive feedback, mentoring and promotion. The scheme…
Poetry SchoolCAMPUS Debate: Poetry and Music in Performance
Poetry and music: a natural pairing? On instinct, yes! of course! why who hasn’t extolled a thumping good poem for its ‘musicality’, or raved about the ‘pure poetry’ of a great song? If you go back far enough to when nearly all verse was accompanied by flute and lyre, it’s hard to say whether poetry…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)
A Long Drink for a Hot Day: an Interview with Holly Hopkins
An Interview with Holly Hopkins
As the Summer days draw out, and the festivals, parties, barbeques and celebrations continue, Holly Hopkins will be inviting students to look at some of the best booze-inspired poetry – and to create some of their own – on her Summer School workshop ‘A Long Drink for a Hot Day’ . We caught up with…
Poetry SchoolPub Chat: Test Centre
An Interview with Test Centre
In the latest of our series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Jess Chandler of Test Centre… Hello there, Jess! What are you drinking? Jess: Gin & tonic! How long has Test Centre been running? Jess: Test Centre began as a project in 2011, and…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)‘Dare You Blow it Out’
Slugs ease in round half eleven. Double, teeth on her graphite tourniquet, looms up the wall. Ceiling’s Brownian mandala. Candle, eating its amygdala, gives a masonic wink to Minton glaze on the mantel, vase and jug, that aluminium lamp, as an artist would bring them to life I expect. COMMENT “I imagine tutor Tom…
Manda JoyceCAMPUS Pamphlet: ‘The Blueprint – New North Poets 2015’
This is very exciting, this is. Over the last couple of years the Poetry School have been working with New Writing North on a writing and mentoring programme with the five recipients of New Poets Bursaries at the 2013 Northern Writers’ Awards. The bursaries were awarded to emerging poets to help develop their first collections…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)Surprised by Joy: an Interview with Dai George
An Interview with Dai George
In his Summer School workshop ‘Surprised by Joy’ this term, Dai George will be exploring the challenges and possibilities of writing from feelings of happiness, wonder and joy. We had a chat to find out more … Hello Dai – tell us about your Summer workshop. What do you have planned? It’s called ‘Surprised by…
Poetry SchoolPub Chat: Rack Press
An Interview with Rack Press
In the latest of our series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Nicholas Murray of Rack Press… Hello there, Nick! What are you drinking? Nick: A glass of Ralph’s Cider made by my neighbour Ralph Owen who claims to be one of the few Welsh…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)CAMPUS Pamphlets: ‘BLOOMSOUND’
‘Would you like another flicky book?’ Yes I said yes. Here you are then, this latest CAMPUS Pamphlet published on Bloomsday, the date that James Joyce’s Ulysses take place. Last year, Chris McCabe ran a 3 term course for us, spending the Autumn reading Ulysses, the Spring writing new poems in response and the Summer…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)Celebrate Your History: an Interview with Nick Field
An Interview with Nick Field
How can poetry express the joys, sensations and narratives of shared celebrations? In his new Summer School workshop ‘Celebrate Your History’, artist and writer Nick Field will be working with students to use autobiography to create powerful, joyful poems. We caught up with Nick to find out more… Hi Nick! Tell us a bit about…
Shane RouncePub Chat: HappenStance Press
An Interview with HappenStance Press
In the latest of our series of feature-length interviews with independent publishers, set in our imaginary poetry theatre pub somewhere in Lambeth, we spoke to Helena Nelson of HappenStance Press.. Hello there, Helena! What are you drinking? Helena: Glass of Sauvignon Blanc, thank you (if you happen to have any Cloudy Bay, that would be perfect). How long…
Will Barrett (Poetry School)A Festival of Opposing Forces: Interview with R A Villanueva
An Interview with R A Villanueva
R A Villanueva’s upcoming Summer workshop, ‘A Festival of Opposing Forces’, will be a celebration of unlike things, thinking about poems as spaces to memorialize, illuminate, and make new. We caught up with the poet and asked him a few questions about what the day will have in store… Tell us more about your Summer…
Shane RounceMixed Borders: Who’s Where
Open Gardens Squares Weekend is just around the corner! On Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June, you can explore over 200 private, secret and tucked away gardens across London. Our Mixed Borders Poets have taken up residence in 16 of the Open Gardens dotted across London. They’ve been visiting their gardens for the last month…
Poetry School
Review the 2015 Forward Prize Shortlists!
CAMPUS wants Reviews! The shortlists for the 2015 Forward Prizes have just been announced! Congratulations to all poets and publishers on the list – you can read all the details here: http://www.forwardartsfoundation.org/forward-prizes-for-poetry/about/ This year, the Poetry School will be working closely with the Forward Arts Foundation on a series of events and activities encouraging close engagement…
Julia Bird (Poetry School Staff)‘Lady Boondaburra’s Spring’
Again the him came and fought that other one spur on spur they rousing such a splash ‘til he’s growl and stung swum off – he I never seen once, nor him that’s done his business with me, come to think. No mind me. Clutch me hatchling oval, all those dawn-rises and down-suns, all them…
Mel Denham‘An Armadillo Takes To The Stage At London Zoo’
I’m really not cut out for showbiz. I may look tough in my leathery armour, but inside my heart is soft as mud. I’m not flashy. I don’t have the meerkats’ swagger. Nobody gasps when an armadillo shuffles in. You’d think with all these plates of bone covering my body, I wouldn’t be so thin-skinned….
Alexandra English‘Polar Bears, Auckland Zoo, Summer 1963’
Dark mucky eyes. Muzzles pant, sniff air, mad with the scent of humans, or seals. I hold my toffee apple and dangle a red jandalled foot through bars above their pit. Bears sway in sync, contained in white, a concrete code for snow. Polar bears attack only when hungry, or provoked—I imagine blood, shreds of skin, knuckles…
Cherllisha Silva