The Poets of Liverpool: From Felicia Hemans to Paul Farley

8 weekly sessions, on Mondays at 11am - 1pm, starting from Monday 19 January.

Overview

The Mersey Sound published in 1967 in the Penguin Modern Poets series is one of the best-selling poetry anthologies of all time having sold more than half a million copies.  The names Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten are still defined as the Liverpool Poets. This course uses The Mersey Sound as a springboard to consider the legacy of this iconic book. We will look at the work of Liverpool poets, including Felicia Hemans, A S J Tessimond, Peter Reading, Matt Simpson, Deryn Rees-Jones, and Paul Farley as well as Henri, Patten and McGough. We will explore together whether Liverpool’s uniqueness as a city has produced a unique poetry.

This course aims to introduce Liverpool poetry to participants who will explore ways in which the city itself inspires imaginative responses and new approaches in English poetry. We will devote our time to close reading of a range of poems, encouraging deep discussion and debate about the significance of our chosen poets and develop knowledge about the rich heritage of Liverpool poetry.

This course is for people interested in reading, Liverpool and the idea that art and culture is rooted in place and belongs to everyone. You do not have to write poetry to take part. You may love reading but are a bit unsure about poetry. You may love poetry but don’t think Liverpool has a claim to its own poetics. We will look at the lives and backgrounds of our chosen poets as well as examples of their work so discussion will include aspects of social history and politics as well as literature.

Syllabus

1. What was the impact of The Mersey Sound and what do we know about Adrian Henri, Roger McGough & Brian Patten?  “When in public poetry should take off its clothes”: A close reading of Brian Patten’s Prosepoem towards a definition of itself – group discussion.
2. Adrian Henri, Brian Patten, Roger McGough: close reading & discussion of selected poems.
3. Was the Mersey Sound a pop phenomenon of the sixties or is it relevant today? We will look at the impact of the Mersey Poets on British and spoken word poetry with example texts.
4. Felicia Hemans 1793 – 1835) - lost woman poet or outdated colonialist.  Close Reading of Casabianca (‘The boy stood on the burning deck…’) and The Homes of England and other selected texts with discussion.
5. A S J Tessimond (1902 – 1962): close reading of selected poems and discussion of the life of his 20th century romantic.
6. Matt Simpson (1936 – 2009) author of 6 collections, a working-class lad from Bootle who was educated at Cambridge and returned to Liverpool as a dedicated teacher and critic. Close reading of selected texts and discussion.
7. Deryn Rees-Jones & Paul Farley: Close reading of selected texts and discussion.
8. Does Liverpool have a distinct heritage of poetry? Is there such a thing as a poetics of Liverpool? This final session will consider whether Scouse exceptionalism can be applied to the art of poetry

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).

Paula 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: £125
• Concession fee: £65