Individual and In-depth: focus on small groups and one-to-ones

Hello Friends ... while half the Poetry School staff are busy putting this email together, the other half are poring over the Aldeburgh Festival brochure, highlighter in hand. Aldeburgh is always a good place for us to go and discover new poets and tutors. If you're planning to be there too and spot anyone you think we should work with, drop us a line. Meanwhile, at the half way point of our Autumn term, here's what's coming up ...

Seminar Groups

We recently put the call out for new members for a London Seminar Group, and we're delighted to announce that Jacqueline Saphra will now be running a new group, starting in November this year. Gathering in Limehouse, the sessions will take place on Thursday afternoons, and will offer in-depth feedback on poems in progress for a small group of between 6 and 8 students. Sessions last 2.5 hours each. We are also planning to run a new Bristol seminar group with Andrew Jamison from the Spring. If you would like more details, or would like to sign up now, email Jo on administration@poeetryschool.com. (The chocolate digestive is a serving suggestion: students might like to organise themselves a biscuit-provision rota.)

One-to-One Tutorials
To tango, it takes two. And to write good poems it takes two too. Between them, one student and one tutor can get to grips with the knottiest problems in a selection of poems - whether it's a group of pieces that needs to be readied for magazine submission, or a sequence that needs to be polished up for publication. Our tutorials cost £100 for assessment of 200 lines of poetry, and we can arrange face-to-face or email sessions. Details of which tutors offer tutorials and where are here, and to talk about arranging one, email Jo at administration@poetryschool.com to start the process off.

War Poetry Workshop in Manchester
Zaffar Kunial is currently the Poet in Residence at the Wordsworth Trust in the Lake District. He was recently commissioned by the Poetry Society as part of The Pity: Modern Response to War. We saw his performance and when we were asked by the Imperial War Museum i in Manchester (IMW North) to collaborate on a workshop, Zaf was our immediate first choice. Join him in examining IWM North’s From Street to Trench: A World War that Shaped a Region exhibition in search of stories and artefacts to inspire your own poems. Whether you’re an experienced writer or you’d like some guidance on creating your first poem, Zaf will help you order your thoughts and ideas into pieces which explore and honour your connections with conflict. The workshop includes a guided tour of the exhibition and an opportunity to get up close to the museum’s First World War handling collection.

Date: Saturday 13 December
Time: 10.30am – 4.30pm
Price: £69, £66 (60+), £55 concs
To book: call the Poetry School on 0207 582 1679 or book online

Spring Term Hints
At time of writing, we've not had our fill of Autumn leaf-kicking fun, let alone Winter log-fire pleasure ... but we think ahead, here at the Poetry School. Our Spring term programme is nearly complete, and booking should open around about 10 November. Some hints for you: look out for one day workshops with Zoe Skoulding, Jo Bell and David Harsent; there's a course coming inspired by The Tempest, one taking you through the first collection process and one based on Carnival. We've got a Cherry Blossom Festival Poetry Picnic lined up, and our online tutors include A B Jackson, Ryan Van Winkle and Helen Mort. More Spring term news to follow shortly - meanwhile, enjoy the rest of this term's sessions and poems.