Creative Writing Poetry

Overview

This creative writing poetry module will be structured around the students’ own written work. Two or three poems by students will be submitted each week for detailed discussion in seminar. Other works by established poets will also be brought to class each week and discussed in detail. These will function as templates for students’ own writing exercises. In this way, in the course of the semester, students will look in depth at practical aspects of writing poetry and become familiar with a wide range of different poetic styles and techniques.

Learning Objectives

Having completed this module, students should be familiar with the various categories of contemporary English-language poetry and have written widely in a range of poetic forms and styles. Objectivity about their own creative practice will have been further fostered by the writing of a self-reflexive commentary to accompany their final submission. Students should have come some way towards developing their own creative voice.

Skills

Students will be encouraged throughout the module to write often and to a deadline, improving their capacities for both sustained creative production and time-management. The environment of the creative writing workshop will also enhance their ability to work as a team, and to successfully communicate constructive feedback on other students’ work. By learning how to engage critically with their own writing, to make informed decisions about structure and content, students should also have become better readers of the texts they will encounter in their other modules, as well as better critics of their own work.

Assessment

Your assessment will be based on a poetry portfolio of 15 poems and a commentary of 1,000 words. Attendance at lectures, tutorials and or seminars at least 70%.