Short course
Writing Poetry: An Introduction
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
29/09/2026 - 01/12/202610:30 - 12:30
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£315.00
You will learn and practise essential techniques for writing traditional kinds of poetry, as well as free verse, in the presentations, discussions and workshops of this course. Different classes will focus on different themes, techniques and forms.
Weekly prompts for poems will give you the opportunity to experiment with the ballad measure, the sonnet, and the villanelle, among other traditional forms. You will also be taught strategies for making the rules up yourself, and breaking them, when writing free verse.
Along the way we will focus on different aspects of the craft, from metre and rhyme, through handling syntax and lineation, to a consideration of imagery and symbolism. You will also learn about imitation, allusion, and the use of rhetoric in poetry.
Old and new poems will be presented as exemplars in each session so that you can learn to read familiar and not-so-familiar poetry as a poet. In this way the poets in any anthology can become your teachers. But you will also present your own work each week in a friendly workshop environment and learn how to critique the work of others.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Courses starts Tuesday 29 September 2026
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Tuesdays, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Week 1: Introduction: finding themes and revising
Week 2: The Ballad Measure
Week 3: The Stanza
Week 4: The Sonnet
Week 5: Nature Poetry
Week 6: The Conversation Poem
Week 7: The Villanelle
Week 8: Free Verse I
Week 9: Free Verse II
Week 10: Final Workshop
Course aims
To introduce students to different ways of writing poetry.
Course objectives
1. To introduce students to different techniques and forms of poetry through the examination of old and new examples of poetry.
2. To provide prompts each week for poems so participants can explore different techniques and forms in their own writing.
3. To create a cohesive, mutually supportive, but rigorous group in which the contributors’ own work can be developed and evaluated.
Learning outcomes
- Students will have a sound knowledge of different techniques and forms of poetry;
- they will be able to write and revise poems to final draft stage using different techniques and forms;
- and be able to give sound, in-depth judgements on the writing of others.
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Teaching methods
Teaching and Learning will take place mainly in presentations, group discussions, and workshop sessions. During each class students will be introduced to the work of contemporary and earlier poets as a means of exploring different techniques, styles of poetic practice and forms, and to help provide prompts for the writing of their own poems, but the students’ own work will be the main focus each week in the workshops.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
You will be set various pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed pieces of work totalling 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Dr Edward Clarke
Edward Clarke’s poetry collections include Cherubims (Kelsay Books, 2022) and A Book of Psalms (Paraclete Press, 2020). His critical books include The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry (Iff Books, 2014) and The Later Affluence of Yeats and Stevens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). He is a Departmental Lecturer in Oxford Lifelong Learning (English Literature) at the Department for Continuing Education, Oxford University, and a Fellow of Kellogg College.
Academic credit
Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)
Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.
Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.
Digital certificate of completion
Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Library, part of the Bodleian Libraries, for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are also welcome to use the Library for reference.
- More information about the Library can be found on the Bodleian Libraries website.
- This guide for Weekly Class students also provides further information.
Preparatory reading
- The Norton Anthology of Poetry / Margaret Ferguson et al. (ed.)
Module code: O26P484CRW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.