This course is aimed at gaining greater understanding and control of the needs and nature of the poems you're writing - lyric, dramatic, elegiac, comic, long, short, etcetera. What does a poem  need to sustain its particular life, and how can this be provided? The course requirements are curiosity, imagination and a liking for discussion.

A  Word  from Maurice Riordan:

‘In this course we'll  explore ways to make your poems memorable – to make every line fresh and vivid, and right to the ear.   I will set writing exercises each day based on examples by contemporary poets.  You’re likely to find that these exercises  generate a lot of creative thinking  and they will enlarge your sense of what’s possible when writing a poem.  I will give individual feedback and advice on revision – as well as conducting group discussion  and workshops.  You should bring along some of your favourite poems as well as examples of your own work – and you can look forward to an adventurous week.’
There will be a maximum of 10 participants.
Please bring plenty of writing materials, notebooks and loose sheets of A4 paper, and a laptop computer if you have one. As well as your own poems, bring a few poems or a book by a published poet or two whose work you find interesting, as there’ll be an opportunity to include in some of the evening readings poems by others as well as your own.

About Maurice:

Maurice is an award-winning poet  whose poetry  is published by Faber.   Born in rural Co. Cork, in Ireland, he lived in Canada and Spain before settling  in London.  Until recently he was the poetry editor of Poetry London, where he was known for publishing the poems of new poets alongside  those of famous names.  He has also edited several anthologies  concerned with science and ecology.  
He is much admired as an incisive and attentive poetry tutor, who has helped  many poets to achieve  publication and some indeed national recognition.  For ten years he ran the poetry workshop  at Morley College in London.  He also taught at Goldsmiths College and Imperial College, and now teaches on the Writing MA at Sheffield Hallam University.  He’s given many courses for the Arvon Foundation and the Poetry School, and has tutored in Ireland, Malta, and North America.    
His principal books are A Word from the Loki (1995), which was a Poetry Book Society Choice and nominated for the T. S. Eliot Prize.  His next collection, Floods  (2000), was a ‘Book of the Year’ in the Sunday Times and the Irish Times,  and shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award.  His most recent book, The Holy Land, received the Michael Hartnett Award in 2007. He has also published Confidential Reports, translations from the Maltese of Immanuel Mifsud  (Southword Editions, 2005), and for children The Moon Has Written You a Poem , which is adapted from the Portuguese of José Letria (Winged Chariot, 2005).

Fee £595 all inclusive for the week in a shared room (Excluding flights)

£150 supplement for single room
£450 for non participating partners

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