Poetry as Performance & Process

Close Readings—Poetry as Performance & Process is a series of five, two-hour creative writing workshops, each of which explores a single, exemplary poem. The focus will be on the poem as a work of art—an artefact performing itself; the process embodied within it; and its method and technique. The overriding aims of the workshops are for participants to encounter outstanding works of literary art, to develop an understanding of the artistry that produces them, and to use their examples to inform their own writing.

The poems we will focus on are:

Ted Hughes. ‘Two Horses’. Collected Poems. London: Faber. (2003).

Jorie Graham. ‘To 2040’. To 2040. Manchester: Carcanet. (2023).

Sylvia Plath. ‘The Swarm’. Collected Poems. London: Faber. (1982).

Vasko Popa. ‘The Worshipping of the Lame Wolf’. London: Anvil. (1997).

Wole Soyinka. ‘Idanre’. Idanre & Other Poems. London: Methuen. (1967).

Each workshop will proceed as follows.

The workshop will begin with the sharing of the creative writing prompt followed by a reading of the poem, after which participants will have the opportunity to react with comments in an initial discussion.

The course tutor will then provide a summary analysis of the poem as performance, and salient elements of process, method and technique. They key questions are: What is this poem doing? How is it doing it? There will be further opportunity for reactions, comments and discussion.

The course tutor will then lead a close reading and discussion of the poem, providing interpretations and context, and drawing attention to salient elements related to process, method and technique. This will be the main content of the workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to react, comment and discuss.

Participants will than have a space to begin drafting or planning the piece provoked by the prompt, or to simply continue reflecting on their experience of the poetic encounter.

The seminar will close with a sharing of thoughts and work-in-progress, and a Q&A.

Resources will be distributed by email ten days before each workshop. Zoom links will be sent to participants two days before each workshop.

Dates, time and how to book

Seminars will take place fortnightly on Zoom, on Wednesday evenings, 7.00pm-9.00pm, between 1st October and 26th November, 2025.

Seminar One, Wednesday October 1st, 7.00pm-9.00pm: Ted Hughes. ‘Two Horses’.

Seminar Two, Wednesday October 15th, 7.00pm-9.00pm: Jorie Graham. ‘To 2024’.

Seminar Three, Wednesday October 29th, 7.00pm-9.00pm: Sylvia Plath. ‘The Swarm’.

Seminar Four, Wednesday November 12th, 7.00pm-9.00pm. Vasko Popa. ‘The Worshipping of the Lame Wolf’.

Seminar Five, Wednesday November 26th, Wole Soyinka. ‘Idanre’.