Writing Poetry

This course has been postponed - please contact shortcourses@gsmd.ac.uk for more information

Ages 13–17*

_{*Equivalent to UK school years 8–13. Please note we cannot accept any participants over 18 due to safeguarding.} 

Course Dates & Times

TBC

About Writing Poetry

This three-day course will equip you with a number of different skills to approach poetry writing, reading modern poetry and exercise your imagination.

With the support of London writer Annie Hayter, you will explore a variety of fun and creative writing exercises. The course will provide the perfect introduction to poetry in a fun and creative environment.

Who is the course for?

Anyone aged 13–17, who wants to write poetry and is open to exploring different forms of creative expression.

What can I expect?

You can expect to:

• Explore the world of poetry
• Use a range of stimulus including imagery, music and different writing styles
• Read poems together as a group and move onto guided writing exercises
• Develop knowledge of the practical techniques used in writing poetry
• Respond to written exercises during each session
• Learn how to draft work and practise critical judgement when writing poems
• Have opportunities to contribute to sessions by reading work aloud or commenting on poems
• Create a finished poem and receive feedback on poems from Annie Hayter

You will explore works by a variety of writers: including Ahana Banerjee, Grace Nichols, Naomi Shihab Nye, Nina Mingya Powles, Jackie Kay, Raymond Antrobus, Ella Frears, Gboyega Odubanjo, and Lucille Clifton. You will use writing exercises to craft poems and consider different ways to approach writing. 

A pack of poems and prompts will be provided for the course.

By the end of the course, there will be individual feedback sessions on one poem that you have created from the course. You will also have the chance to perform your work in a final showcase on the last day.

Do I need anything for the course?

Something to write on e.g. a notepad and pen/pencil or an electronic device.

This course has been postponed - please contact shortcourses@gsmd.ac.uk for more information

Eligibility

• For everyone aged 13–17*
• Participants must have sufficient English language skills to cope with course demands

_{*Equivalent to UK school years 8–13.}

About the Course Tutor

This course is taught by Annie Hayter.

Annie is a London Writers Awardee and a Barbican Young Poet. She has performed on various stages, including Radio 3, Brighton Festival, the Barbican, Verve Poetry Festival, Walthamstow Garden Party, and FRINGE! Queer Film & Arts Fest.

Recently, she came third in the Cúirt New Writing Prize for Poetry and was shortlisted for The White Review’s Poet’s Prize, the Young People's Laureate for London, the Desperate Literature Prize and the Sylvia Plath Prize. Her work appears in the Eleven Stories Anthology, the collection ‘After Sylvia’, Time Out, The White Review, The Oxford Review of Books, The Log Books, Bedtime Stories for the End of the World and MAGMA.

After graduating from the University of Oxford with a degree in English Literature, she has run workshops with the Barbican, Crisis, Headway East London, the Anna Freud Centre, National Youth Orchestra, The Albany, Writerz and Scribez, and Spread the Word.