Whether you are a complete beginner or have been writing
poems all your life, this course aims to help you enjoy creating your own
poetry. As well as writing poetry, you will be reading and analysing many
well-known and more obscure examples of great poems, both in order to recognise
form and take inspiration from the masters. You will try different forms such
as haikus, odes, sonnets, limericks and free verse, from which you will develop
skills in drafting and editing and will enjoy presenting and sharing your work,
creating a varied portfolio at the end of the week. 'Twill be fun.
Poetry
is a very precise but often misunderstood art form. Whether you are a complete
beginner or have been writing poems all your life, this course aims to help you
enjoy writing poetry which in turn requires some knowledge and understanding of
poetic techniques and traditions. Consequently, we will be reading and
analysing many well-known and more obscure examples of great poems both in
order to recognize form and take inspiration from the masters. Whilst you will
be encouraged to find your own voice it is important that we understand and
attempt to emulate the distinctive features of poetic craft. We will work in different
forms such as haikus, odes, sonnets, limericks and free verse, experimenting
and assimilating poetic techniques, such as rhythm, rhyme, imagery metaphor and
onomatopoeia.
You
will develop skills in drafting and editing, and will enjoy presenting and
sharing your work whilst contributing and responding to constructive
suggestions. A pre-prepared pack will be provided.
As
always with Fleur's courses, there is absolutely no need for any preparation,
but should you so wish, the best preparation is to read any good anthology of
poetry to try and identify the type of poetic voice that appeals to you or has
a resonance or fits your personal definition of what a poem should be - a subject
which is steeped in debate. A good place to start, is with a Shakespeare sonnet
- as this is the first example we will look at together.
Fleur Lloyd
About Fleur
This is Fleur's 16th year
as a tutor at Marlborough Summer School where she has been running popular
courses in Creative Writing and varied literary courses. She has worked with
The English Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe for a number of years.
Fleur has also had a long career in teaching and is currently a Lecturer in
English at the University of West London and she teaches Creative Writing at
the Hammersmith and Fulham Adult Education College.
