Kickstart Your Poetry (12-week course)
Blossom as a poet with this inspiring poetry course online. Explore imagery, metaphor, voice, layout, rhythm, and rhyme as you create a striking portfolio of original poems with personalised tutor support.
Ready to immerse yourself in the art of poetry?
Discover the wonders of writing verse with this online poetry course dedicated to the theory and practice of writing poetry for beginners. You will read the work of great and lesser-known poets, experiment with new poetry techniques and enjoy constructive feedback that will give you the confidence to venture even further.
Through a combination of insightful lessons, experimental exercises and practical assignments, you’ll gain an understanding of poetry and of yourself as a poet. As the course progresses, you will develop several original poems which your tutor will read and offer constructive feedback on how on both your writing and your potential next steps.
This poetry course will cover…
- Understanding the various places poetry can come from
- Using your imagination and memories to create personal and exciting poetry
- The examination and analysis of contemporary poetry
- Helping you feel confident as a poet
- Finding and developing your own unique voice
- Exploring the power of language
This twelve-week course is designed for writers with no formal training who want to learn the basic skills of structuring and writing poetry.
Your tutor will read up to twelve poems, and you will receive personalised feedback from her on your writing throughout the course. At the end, you’ll also have a one-to-one tutorial to discuss your work in depth and explore your next steps as a writer.
Book your place by 10am BST, Thursday 14 May to take advantage of our early bird discount!
Start date
Monday 21 September
Location
Online
Length
12 weeks (please see course schedule below)
Price
£495* £445 early bird discount
*Payment plans available. Contact us at [email protected] to find out more.
Course format
This course is delivered across six fortnightly modules (see course programme below). The majority of the content is presented in text form via Teachable, allowing you to progress through the material chapter by chapter at your own pace. You will have two weeks to complete each module, after which you will submit an assignment directly to your tutor for personalised feedback and guidance.
The course also includes up to two live Zoom sessions: a welcome session in the first module, followed by a one-to-one tutorial with your tutor later in the course.
Click to find out more about the course structure and the equipment you may need.
Course programme
Please note, the module order and/or content of the course may be subject to change.
Module one – What is poetry anyway?
In this introductory module, you’ll explore where poems come from. You’ll meet your tutor and your peers, and together you’ll generate ideas and share work through a series of exercises including automatic writing and writing from memory. For your assignment, you’ll submit two draft poems to your tutor, for personal feedback.
Module two – The image
In this module, you’ll explore one of the core components of poetry: imagery. You’ll start by looking at sensory writing, similes, and you’ll read poems that use symbolism to provide dual meanings. Again, you can submit up to two draft poems for feedback from your tutor.
Module three – The metaphor
This module takes imagery in poetry to the next level. You will explore what a metaphor is and how to extend one over an entire poem. You’ll play with riddles to discover the double nature of language and you’ll invent your own riddles to put this to the test. You’ll read poems that contain hidden metaphors, as well as poems where the metaphor is extended throughout the piece. You’ll finish by submitting two poems that use metaphor.
Module four – White space
The fourth module looks at the spaces where words aren’t. You’ll read poems that are only one stanza, poems that have multiple stanzas and poems that contain more white space than words. In this module, you’ll also explore the notion of poetry as visual art and you’ll learn how to make shapes with your poetry and experiment with layout to enhance your work.
Module five – Who’s talking?
In module five, you’ll look at narrative voices in poems. You’ll look at dramatic monologues, confessional poems, and transformational poems. You’ll read poems form a variety of voices before sending two draft poems to your tutor for feedback.
Module six – Musicality
In this final module, you’ll explore rhythm and rhyme in poetry. You’ll read and listen to poetry out loud to better understand the sound and musicality of poems, and you’ll experiment with meter in your writing. For this final assignment, you’ll submit two draft poems to your tutor for feedback.
Live sessions
There will be two live sessions for this course, which will take place over Zoom.
Timings for these sessions will be confirmed shortly.
Helen Ivory
Helen Ivory is poet and visual artist who makes shadowboxes, collage and needlefelt creatures. She edits IS&T, teaches and mentors for Arvon, The Poetry School and NCW. Her sixth Bloodaxe collection Constructing a Witch (2024) was a PBS Winter Recommendation and last summer was translated into Greek and published by Thraka.
A poem from her surrealist chapbook Maps of the Abandoned City (SurVision 2019) is one of the Poems on the Underground. Her Wunderkammer: New and Selected Poems appeared from MadHat in the US in 2023. She is the grateful recipient of an Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors, and has just been awarded an Authors Foundation Grant to work on Elfshot, her new collection for Bloodaxe.
Read Helen’s advice on writing captivating poetry →
Making Strange: how to write captivating poetry
In this article, poet and NCW Academy tutor Helen Ivory shares her poem ‘The Square of the Clockmaker’, which was chosen to be one of the Poems on the Underground, and how she grabs her readers attention with her poetry by making things strange.
5 January 2024
NCW recommends… five poets to inspire your writing
Reading poetry can make a profound impact on your writing, whether you’re an aspiring poet looking for inspiration or you’re a fiction writer who is keen to learn how poetry can improve your writing. Here are five inspiring poets and examples of their work.
22 July 2024
Hear from former students
What’s it like to take part in a National Centre for Writing poetry course online?
Got a question?
If you still have questions, get in touch with the learning team by email [email protected] or phone (+44) 01603 877177 between our working hours of 9am – 5pm GMT, Monday to Friday. We’re here to help!