An Introduction to Reading and Writing Poetry

10 weekly sessions on campus, on Wednesdays at 6 - 8pm, starting from Wednesday 7 October.

Overview

Would you like to write poetry but are unsure of where or how to start? If so, this course is for you. It’s also for you if you want to improve your writing and start to share your poems with other people?. We will read together from a selection of contemporary British and American poets (mainly poems in free verse/open form). You will have the opportunity to start writing and sharing your own work in a supportive and encouraging environment. This course will also be useful for anyone who writes poetry but feels isolated. You will get the chance to share your ideas and work with others and perhaps find some new directions and motivation for your writing.

This course aims to provide participants with an appreciation of developments in contemporary poetry. It will help students to develop their knowledge and skills so that they gain confidence in their own writing. Writing between sessions is encouraged as participants will have the opportunity to bring their own poems to discuss.

This course will appeal to shy poets who have never shared their work before or to those getting started or returning to writing poetry. The only requirement is that you have an interest in learning more about poetry.

Syllabus

Week 1: Wed 7 October 6 – 8pm: Why write poetry? We will read two short pieces on poetics by contemporary poets and discuss what we find useful or interesting in their ideas. What is different about writing poems rather than stories or memoir? We will study one contemporary poem and discuss its form, paying attention to the poem’s shape and space on the page.
Week 2: Wed 14 October 6 – 8pm: How to get started. Do poems start with a line, an idea or is there something mystical about writing poetry? We will read 3 contemporary poems together and discuss our ideas about where these poems came from. Participants will write a list of themes and subjects that most interest them and explore ways in which they would like to turn these ideas into poems.
Week 3: Wed 21 October 6 – 8pm: Poems about Life: What makes life experience a suitable subject for a poem? We will read and discuss 2 contemporary poems and explore the techniques the poets use to turn life into art. 30 minutes of this session will be for writing.
Week 4: Wed 28 October 6 – 8pm: Poetic line: How does a line in a poem differ from a sentence? We will read 2 contemporary open form poems together and look closely at the way the poets create their lines. We will compare free verse approaches to lineation with lines in a more formal poem. This will be a useful way for participants to think deeply about their own writing, to consider whether they are more drawn to free verse or formal verse.
Week 5: Wed 4 November 6 – 8pm: Poetry workshop: Participants will bring along a poem to read and share. We will offer constructive feedback on all writing shared with suggestions for improvement as well as encouragement about the best elements of writing.
Week 6: Wed 11 November 6 – 8pm: Stanzas & Spaces: If a poem is a house, each of its rooms is a stanza. A stanza is a unit of lines in a poem separated by a space. How and why does a poet write stanzas? Does each one represent an idea or an image, or something else? We will read 3 contemporary poems together and look closely at the ways in which the stanzas of the poem are made.
Week7: Wed 18 November 6 – 8pm: Titles How do poets decide on titles for their poems. Does it matter if a poet chooses ‘untitled’ instead of a title? Why are some titles used as first lines? We will read 5 contemporary poems and discuss whether we think the titles of the poems are strong, helpful or misleading. Each participant will then choose alternative titles for the poems. This session will help participants think clearly about their own strategies in naming poems.
Week 8: Wed 25 November 6 – 8pm: Writing a list poem: We will read and discuss 3 contemporary ‘list’ poems and then participants will do a first draft of their own list poem, then share with the group.
Week 9: Wed 2 December 6 – 8pm: Poetry workshop: Participants will bring along a poem to read and share. We will offer constructive feedback on all writing shared with suggestions for improvement as well as encouragement about the best elements of writing.
Week 10: Wed 9 December 6 – 8pm: Developing a Writing Plan: We will look at techniques and strategies for building a writing routine including the need to draft, redraft, change and edit poems. We will also talk about ways of sharing poems and how to submit poems for publication.

Course lecturer

Dr Pauline Rowe was awarded her PhD in 2019 and has taught at the University of Liverpool and the University of Edge Hill. She was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Chester (2022 – 2024). Pauline has worked in community and health settings for over 20 years encouraging and supporting people to explore their creative skills, especially through reading and writing poetry. She was the founder of North End Writers and ran the charity from 2006 to 2020. She was also the first Poet-in-Residence with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust (2013 – 2020) and the first Writer-in-Residence with Open Eye Gallery (2016 – 2019).

Pauline has 9 poetry publications and her pamphlet The Weight of Snow (Maytree Press, 2021) won a Saboteur award. She is currently Writer-in-Residence for the People of Anfield project, originally commissioned by Culture Liverpool and supported by Open Eye Gallery.

Course fee

Standard fee: £165
Concession fee: £85