Exploring Poetry

Exploring Poetry with Lisa Kelly

Autumn Set: Dreamscapes

This six-week course is designed for all levels and will work particularly well for those who have a handful of poems (or more) on the go and are seeking constructive feedback. We'll read and discuss published works, write from prompts, and have the chance to bring our own poems to be workshopped.

Dreams and poems have much in common. They have their own language and logic. They're difficult to control and exciting to explore. What are they trying to tell us? How should we interpret a dream - or a poem?

In this course we'll unlock the language of dreams and think about the symbols that find their way into poems such as feathers, locks and coins. We'll also consider how we can use the fragmented nature of dreams to help find new ways to shape our poems on the dreamscape of the page.

Across the course, we'll look at published poems that range from dreamy to nightmarish. The first half of each session will focus on reading and discussing example poems, and doing creative exercises in class. The second half will be devoted to a workshop in which several participants each week can bring a selection of their existing poems for feedback in an open and constructive environment, to enable further development.

At the end of the course, each of us will come away with a Dreamcatcher Diary charting our journey from dreams to poems, along with routes to publication.

Our tutor Lisa says...

Being in a dreamy state often helps us start a poem – perhaps a strange image or a phrase might pop into the mind as our critical gaslight is on low. Some poets keep a diary by the side of their bed and on waking, write what they remember of a dream – intriguing events, strange landscapes or fragments of conversations, maybe with someone who has passed or even a celebrity. Poems rely on creative energy and a new way of seeing things; dreams can be a rich resource for us as poets and I'm excited to explore them with you on the course!

BRAND NEW COURSE FOR AUTUMN 2025

Testimonials coming end December

ZOOM DELIVERY

Maximum of 12 students

Cost £155

Autumn 2025: Mornings

Wednesdays 10.30am-1pm
Nov 5, 12, 19, 26, Dec 3, 12

Enquire

Lisa Kelly

Lisa Kelly is a poet and editor based in London. She has single-sided deafness and is half Danish and has been learning British Sign Language (BSL) for several years. She co-edited What Meets the Eye: The Deaf Perspective(Arachne Press), an anthology of poems, short fiction and scripts from UK Deaf and Hard of Hearing writers. She is Chair of Magma Poetry and has co-edited four issues of the magazine: the Conversation issue; the Deaf issue, the Solitude issue and the Grassroots issue. Her second collection, The House of the Interpreter(Carcanet), was a Poetry Book Society Summer Recommendation in 2023 and her first collection, A Map Towards Fluency(Carcanet), was shortlisted for the Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize 2021. She was shortlisted for the 2024 Forward Prizes for Best Single Poem - Written. Her poetry roots are at the Torriano Meeting House in north London where she regularly hosts poetry evenings on a Sunday evening. In her spare time, she enjoys walking and looking out for mushrooms, but not eating them!

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Many people are under-represented in the writing world as a result of their socio-economic background, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability. Writing Room is a welcoming online home for ALL creative writers (18+). Come and join us!

A welcoming online home for all creative writers