Writing Poetry: Next Steps

18-week online writing course begins Monday 19 September 2022

Award-winning poet Anthony Vahni Ezikiel Capildeo will be your guide through this next level course, designed for poets keen to push themselves further. Through experimentation, challenge and feedback, you will produce new work and have a better sense of how to assess your poetry objectively. Over 24 weeks, you will be guided through the landscape of contemporary poetry.

Classes are capped at 15 places to ensure a high-quality experience. Book quickly to secure your place.

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‘Excellent and constructive feedback. Enjoyed the high standard of poems posted by participants.’
Level 2 poetry student

What the course covers

1. Making Strange – how to look at the world afresh and make the familiar strange again in your poetry
2. Narrative – we examine development and movement in short free verse; how can structure keep the reader engaged?
3. First Person, Third Person – we look at the power of different forms of narrator and the impact on the reader
4. Autobiography, Facts and Metaphorical Truth – writing about your own life can be very difficult; here we explore how metaphorical truth can help with writing personal material
5. Finding Your Voice – exploring the notions of voice and how everything you’ve ever read, seen, heard or experienced contributes to your work
6. The Sonnet – we look at the Shakespearian sonnet and how it has developed over time
7. Using Fairytale and Myth – archetypal stories provide inspiration for poets and help us to understand life and death; borrowing from existing stories can help us to write our own
8. The Prose Poem – there are many definitions of the prose poem, and we’ll read example and create our own
9. Experimental Poetry – it’s time to press at the boundaries of what a poem is: found poems, visual poems, collage poems
10. Ekphrasis – in this module we look to visual arts for inspiration, investigating how one medium can talk to another
11. Sequences – sometimes a single poem is not enough; here we look at how sequences can be deployed to further develop ideas
12. Editing – feedback from other writers is very useful but being able to self-edit is a key skill

By the end of the course you will have:

• Developed your poetic voice
• Challenged yourself to write your best work yet through experimentation and feedback
• Understood the editing process and learned how to objectively judge your own work
• Thought about the reader and how to help them engage with your poetry
• Received constructive and supportive feedback on a minimum of 12 poems
• Developed an understanding of the scope of contemporary poetry
• Explored avenues for where next to take your poetry
• Engaged with a group of fellow poets keen to take their work to the next level

Applying to the course

This is an intermediate course and we ask that you submit samples of your work during application. The criteria is as follows:

• 3 poems that you would like to share with the tutor
•  An introduction to yourself and your writing (max 250 words)

Applications are made by email to learning@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk, and must be sent by 12noon BST on Wednesday 7 September.

Applications are considered and places allocated on a first come first served basis.

Committing to a 18-week course is a big decision for any writer. If you have any questions at all please do get in touch at learning@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk.

About your tutor

Vahni Anthony Ezekiel Capildeo FRSL is a Trinidadian Scottish writer of poetry and non-fiction. Capildeo’s eight books and eight pamphlets include Like a Tree, Walking (Carcanet, November 2021) and The Dusty Angel (Oystercatcher, 2021). Their interests include plurilingualism, traditional masquerade, and multidisciplinary collaboration. In 2014 Capildeo served as a judge for the Forward Prize and won the Forward Prize for Poetry for Best Collection in 2016. They are Writer in Residence and Professor at the University of York, a Visiting Scholar at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and an Honorary Student of Christ Church, Oxford.

‘There is a sharpness to the observations and a bold specificity to their articulation, often presented with an eye for humour. Capildeo’s delight in this experiment is evident’ – Chrissy Williams, Poetry London

How it works

All you need is a computer and an internet connection. You can find out more about the requirements here.

The course will run for 18 weeks and there will be 12 modules. Each module will consider an aspect of poetry and participants will work through some writing exercises. At the end of each module, the tutor will set an assignment.  You will receive written feedback from your tutor for all 12 modules with hints and tips on how to strengthen your poem.

There are two scheduled Zoom sessions, dates are to be announced.

Designed by the University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Writing.