‘Why not say what happened?’ – Robert Lowell Drawing on themes from her next collection, Helen’s workshop will encourage you to write honestly from life’s experiences, and see them as the power within you – not the pain. So often we see trauma and struggle through the lens of grief. But, creatively – especially through […]

Join Suhaiymah in a workshop where we will consider the power of writing as resistance. In this time of worldwide violence and oppression as the consequences of capitalism, racism, misogyny, militarism, hostile environments and more, resistance feels urgent and necessary, but it can also be difficult and overwhelming to know where to start. In this […]

Helen Mort's latest collection The Illustrated Woman (2022) uses the metaphor of tattooing to explore the agency we have over our bodies and the difference between how we want to be seen and how others may see us. In this workshop we will look at how successful metaphor and similies can do more than just […]

A communal workshop playing with - and stretching - the links between objects, words and sounds, in which we'll share stories, listen closely to things, and stay as close as we can to the non-sense within. A workshop to enjoy with the Forward First Book Award winning author of RENDANG (Granta, 2020).

What do we talk about when we talk about mothers? How does one begin to articulate one's closeness or distance with the mother, and the changing identities and understanding? In this workshop, participants will get to explore new directions in their writing by addressing the complexity and contradictions of mothers or about motherhood. The creative […]

A poetry writing workshop that examines the presentation of women figures in retellings of mythology. From witches to goddesses, female archetypes have served to perpetuate patriarchal stereotypes and dictate the behaviour of women throughout history. In this workshop, we will explore how myths and legends can be utilised to prompt and colour our understandings of, […]

In this generative workshop we’ll look at how very familiar everyday material – kitchen utensils, shops, routine tasks – can become the launchpad into meditations on love, life, death and everything in between. Poems by poets including Vicki Feaver, Louise Glück and Helen Dunmore will prompt the beginnings of our own new work as reading, […]

If a poem is described as 'political', this often conjures up the idea of a rant in the shape of a poem, with the control of language slipping away from the poet's grasp. When a poem is described as 'personal', it can bring to mind ideas around what poetry 'should' be about; that certain subjects […]

We will be testing language in the poetic realm. Focus will be placed on getting the work to a high standard that is of publishable quality. If you are working on a project this is the one for you. Prose poetry merges the lyrical and metric elements of poetry with the narrative flow of traditional […]

In this workshop we will explore how poets have responded to the verdant variousness of trees. We will think about trees ecologically, but also consider how trees might define limits of poetic thought, image and form - ways of writing otherwise about trees and woods. Learning from poets including Gerard Manley Hopkins, Francis Ponge, C.D. […]

How can we use poems to tell the stories of our family? Join Liz Berry for a workshop about lifting your family history to the light with sensitivity and nuance. Sharing poems, discussion and practical writing activities, you’ll explore how to preserve your family’s history with care and meaning. Poets of all stages welcome.

Burning Eye editors Bridget Hart and Clive Birnie demystify the process of becoming a published poet. The workshop will include practical guides and case studies looking at what different editors and publishers look for and how to approach them. Whatever your level you will come away ready for the next step on your poetry journey […]

Award-winning writer Jenny Mitchell will facilitate a supportive, creative session that looks at how we write about the elusive concept of Freedom. Why would we want/need to do this? What might it give the writer and reader? Is it even more important to think about Freedom in a world that is so filled with chaos? […]

In this workshop we’ll explore the poem as a wild place, and the relationship between poetry and the wild life beyond ourselves and our control.How can the will of the poet work in concert with the wild, and these two ideas – of the wild and the will, commonly assumed to be diametrically opposed – […]

Using some of the poems from the acclaimed 100 Queer Poems, join co-editor Andrew McMillan to do some writing and breathe new life into your work. Andrew McMillan's three collections are physical, playground and Pandemonium. 100 Queer Poems was published by Vintage Books in 2022.