Writing Workshop: Poetry
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| ENGL4145 | English | 4 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- ENGL4145
- School
- English
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
"The module is designed to make students familiar both with the craft and practice of using some common poetic conventions, and with the contexts in which poetry is published and read. Fundamental to the module’s approach is the idea of questioning those conventions, and exploring what else might be possible. Each session includes some lecture-style input, group discussion, and a workshop during which students share and discuss their draft poems. Through this ‘practitioner’ approach, students are not only supported in their craft but encouraged to work towards submitting their work for publication.
Lecture-style content and focus of discussion:
The conventions which make up the module’s technical focus include: poetic structure; imagery; the lyric ‘I’; the relation between form and content; and poetic voice.
The reading list from which the poems which illustrate these conventions is designed to give a view of a range of important publishing contexts. These will include: poetry magazines; new writers’ anthologies; debut poetry collections; poetry in performance; poetry competitions
Writing workshop:
The students share their poems and drafts during the workshop part of each session, within which they learn both to refine their craft and to develop their skills in discussing their peers’ draft work."
Target Students
Only available to on-site postgraduate students in the School of English.
Classes
- One 2-hour workshop each week for 11 weeks
Assessment
- 70% Coursework 1: Portfolio of 6 poems, as agreed with module convenor.
- 30% Coursework 2: 1,500 word Critical Essay
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
This module aims to provide students with: an introduction to some common poetic techniques; an introduction to the publication culture of contemporary poetry; the opportunity to experiment with a range of writing processes through which they may generate, draft and develop their work; the experience of critically supporting their peers in the development of their writing; the ability to reflect creatively on the process of working towards writing publishable poems.Learning Outcomes
(a) Knowledge and Understanding:
- of the conventions and relative terminology involved in the practice of writing poems;
- of the culture of the publication of contemporary poetry.
(b) Intellectual Skills:
- the ability to take a practical creative approach to the writing of poems;
- to contextualise a student’s own poems within the culture of publication;
- to criticise practically the draft work of other students.
(c) Professional Practical Skills:
- the ability to write accurately and grammatically and present written work according to the conventions appropriate to the study of creative writing;
- the ability to construct and communicate a sustained reflective analysis of texts in writing;
(d) Transferable (Key) Skills:
- communicate effectively in oral and written work.