The programme is delivered through weekly seminars which run for 2.5 hours and are run by Dr John McCullough, who has published numerous collections and is well-known as being an energetic and enthusiastic teacher.

The course covers drafting and editing poems, experimental poetic forms and creating original imagery together with sending out poems to magazines and publishers, building a profile and readership and assembling collections of poetry. Each class will include writing exercises, a discussion on the week’s topic led by the tutor. Half the sessions will include workshopping fellow students’ work, with the idea that one learns as much from critiquing others’ work as one does from writing oneself.

The group will meet weekly to explore and discuss aspects of poetic technique or to review work in progress. There will be opportunities for poets to present work, ideas and practical exercises and to suggest topics for discussion, should they so wish. The emphasis will be on practical writing in the class as well as critiquing work in progress. Between meetings, you will be able to share work and raise questions around writing technique with other writers in the group through the online student forum.