The course will consist of twelve weekly one-hour Zoom classes as a group (Monday evenings, 7–8pm), along with four twenty-minute one-to-ones with your course tutors, with work sent in advance.
Session 1 – Monday 3 May: Ways to Entice the Reader
Exploring ways to welcome the reader into the world of your poetry, we’ll look at some strategies to adopt when thinking about the phases of the collection, with an appreciation of the self in relation to the reader. (With Daljit Nagra)
Session 2 – Monday 10 May: The Early Edits
Thinking about how to begin choosing the right work to build towards your book. Against thinking on what is 'good' / 'bad' and value judgements. Looking at texts adjacent to previous editorial / publishing styles. Including work by T. S. Eliot, Diana Athill and Alice Quinn.(With Rachael Allen)
Session 3 – Monday 17 May: The Organised Sequence
The interior qualities of poems can reveal much about the poet and the external perceptions of the reader – we’ll explore how this can provide wide-ranging possibilities and potential for new verse or editing existing work, as well as possibilities for how to organise the work. (With Daljit Nagra)
Session 4 – Monday 24 May: Networks and Meshes: Different Ways of Meaning Making
Now that we have the blueprint for our work, we will consider the layers inherent in our poems, beyond what they thematically and narratively represent, and how this might lead us to a more concrete structure. How do we make meaning through the different elements of the poems: sound, structure, image, pattern, verse, prose? We’ll look at work by Bhanu Kapil, Erín Moure, Lyn Hejinian. (With Rachael Allen)
Session 5 – Monday 31 May: Guest Tutor
A poet with an upcoming first collection, talking about the process, TBC.
Session 6 – Monday 7 June: The Clean Narrative
We’ll discuss ways to create flow in a collection that keeps the reader gripped with verse that is coherent in a variety of terms. We’ll consider thematic links, with special focus on narrative verse, YA and adult verse novels. (With Daljit Nagra)
Session 7 – Monday 14 June: Thinking Through Structure
How can the way we structure our collections lead us to new poems? Structuring a book is a generative force on its own, leading us to clearer ideas about our intentions and preoccupations – and hopefully more work. We’ll look at work from Will Alexander and Terrance Hayes. (With Rachael Allen)
Session 8 – Monday 21 June: The Standard of Expectation
We’ll consider what should make the final cut and how to meet the expectations of the reader, while also focusing on the quality of the end product, and how well it relates to the historic and aesthetic moment. (With Daljit Nagra)
Session 9 – Monday 28 June: Guest Tutor
A poet with a recently published first collection talks about the process. Guest TBC.
Session 10 Monday 5 July: Seeking Influence
Exploring how good writers seek influence as they build a collection, but also allow direct intervention from a source to excite the writing, we’ll consider the balance between originality and influence. (With Daljit Nagra)
Session 11 – Monday 12 July: Hybrid Modes
How can we use other ways of writing in our collections? Short essays, fiction, memoir, drawings and other ephemera might all emerge from the book once we have the blueprint of it. We’ll look at work by J.H. Prynne, Daisy Lafarge, Maggie Nelson. (With Rachael Allen)
Session 12 – Monday 19 July: Judging, Appraising Excellent Collections for Inspiration
We’ll assess collections and what gives certain books their feel of freshness, energy and memorability. This session is a chance for participants to consider their thoughts about their own process towards a collection. (With Daljit Nagra)