Poetry Workshop 2: The Open Page

Overview

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: Dr Jan Kofi-Tsekpo
• Assessment: 6-10 pages of poetry (70%) and a 1000-word critical reflection essay (30%)

Module description

In this module we introduce you to contemporary and experimental poetry practices, and to some of the most skilled and innovative poets working in the UK and elsewhere. Drawing upon earlier influences, we will explore a range of approaches to generating poetic material, playing with OuLiPo (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle), prose poetry and other forms.

You will create your own work in class, towards the development of a poetry portfolio, and read or perform some of your work as a group at the end of term. You will also find out more about publishing and reading/performing within today's poetry scene.

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• discuss and evaluate (in a sensitive and informed manner) the work of fellow students and poets/poetry movements in relation to elements of craft and context
• maintain a regular writing habit and produce more effective creative work independently
• begin to develop your own approach and style, using a variety of approaches and exercises in the generation of text for the page and/or performance
• practise redrafting and editing, and solve craft-related problems in your creative work
• display confidence and fluency in your own writing and the reading/performing/presentation of the work
• think critically and independently about creative works you have written, read, seen and performed
• research opportunities for publishing and reading/performing your poems
• complete poems for assessment, selecting the appropriate form for each poem, and an accompanying reflection on your own work.