4-week Online Poetry Workshop

All remote courses take place on Irish Standard Time (GMT)

Course Summary: The course is designed for emerging poets with some experience who would like to make new work and explore different approaches to writing, workshopping, editing and publishing. Duality is found everywhere, from nature to our daily experiences of joy and suffering. It creates many of the cycles of balance that are intrinsic to life. In this four-week course we’ll explore poems that encounter duality through the work of poets writing in Ireland and internationally, as well as through guided creative exercises. We’ll delve into discussion of the economy of language, and ways to find meaning and purpose in one’s poetry practice apart from what Derek Mahon dubbed ‘poe-biz’.

Course Outline: Over the four weeks we will collaborate on close readings of poems and discussion of a critical text or two, alongside individual work to generate fresh poems through creative exercises. We will share and workshop work in progress with the group for feedback and support.

Course readings have been curated with a view to falling in love with language all over again. This includes writing, reflections and creative exercises from poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Ciaran Carson, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Norman Dubie, Jack Gilbert, Ted Hughes, Shane McCrae, Grace Nichols, James Merrill, Paul Muldoon, Martha Serpas, Wisława Szymborska and Ocean Vuong. There may be some adjustment of readings in response to the evolving dynamic of the group.

Course Outcomes: Writers will come away with new poems, receive feedback on recent work, and hopefully discover new perspectives on the art of writing poetry.

Course Leader: Grace Wilentz’s debut collection, The Limit of Light (The Gallery Press, 2020) was named one of the best books of the year in The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. In 2021 she was selected as a Next Generation Artist by The Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíon. She co-edits SEED,  a new mixed media journal of art and writing. Grace has taught creative writing at UCD and in diverse community settings. For more check out www.gracewilentz.com