“…poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don’t know you know.” Adrienne Rich This workshop explores how embracing the unknown can challenge our preconceptions and certainties, allowing for contradictions, tensions and paradoxes. Through group discussions, writing prompts and a close reading of Adrienne Rich’s poem ‘Diving into the Wreck’, we will reassess […]
How can we as Poets approach the examination of both Space as in the galactic, and the space which occupies the small gaps or silences in between the spoken and unspoken, through the relationship between word and page? Tickets:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scarlett-ward-workshop-space-space-the-infinity-of-a-blank-page-tickets-395819174807
What truths are your poems telling? If not for your poems, what truths would never be spoken at all? In this workshop, we’ll chart a course for radical honesty in verse, finding stronger roots for your poems to anchor themselves. We’ll focus on work by female Caribbean poets Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné and Safiya Sinclair, drawing on […]
Gifts are often objects that are loaded with emotional weight and memory – the kind that can engender powerful lyric poetry, anchored in concrete detail. This workshop aims to harness the power of gift-giving and -receiving to enable writers to render familiar objects as fresh and surprising stimulus for uncommon poetry. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dzifa-benson-workshop-the-gift-tickets-395838422377
This workshop looks at the art of revising myths through poetry, exploring the approach taken by poets such as Fiona Benson, Jericho Brown and Leila Chatti. Learn to find the mythological in the mundane and use it to charge your poetry. You do not need to have an extensive knowledge of myths, just be willing […]
In this session, Kostya will guide you through the labyrinth of possibilities when translating queer experiences across borders and between languages. Are there ‘untranslatable’ words? Can we translate non-English queer language while retaining its charge? What can learn from other artforms that deal with this issue? And how can we apply historical and personal experiences […]
The Laurel Prize for eco and nature poetry is the world's largest prize for best collection awarded annually. Join Prize Founder, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and this year's judges Glyn Maxwell (Chair), Tishani Doshi and Elena Karina Byrne, with shortlisted poets, for this year's Prize ceremony with readings and a celebration of this critical work […]
Hosted by Roy Mcfarlane, this must-see reading accompanied by *sound-system* will be a lively celebration of these two giants of poetry. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fred-daugiar-and-linton-kwesi-johnson-feature-performance-tickets-396720550847
VERVE Poetry Press is five years old this year! Help us celebrate at this colourful and lively event hosted by Luke Kennard and Brum Poet Laureate Casey Bailey and featuring one poet from each year of our energetic publishing programme: Amerah Saleh (2018), Scarlett Ward Bennett (2019), Jemima Hughes (2020), Golnoosh Nour (2021) and Georgina […]
Our Language is a Queer Thing project - funded by British Council and in partnership with The Queer Muslim Project (India) - pairs three queer UK poets with three queer Indian poets in a project that explores their differing experiences and ask how language can be ‘queered’ to better reflect them. Join Amani Saeed (UK) […]
Join all 18 of the poets involved in our Across Borders – Poems from the Commonwealth project, presented by Birmingham 2022 Festival, and help them launch their Across Borders anthology of new work that has resulted from their ten week partnership. What should we learn from each other? What can we share? 18 poets, 18 […]