Poetry Workshop 1

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: Dr Matt Martin
• Assessment: a collection of poems totalling 8-12 A4 pages or no fewer than 100 lines (80%), plus a 750-word critical essay reflecting on the writing of the poems

No queues, no security checks, no footprints, no delays. Can the translation of poetry move us into this utopian space?  

Following an itinerary of close readings, writing exercises and the process of the workshop, we will explore how poets from across the world have defined and practised translation, and what it means to understand translation as a conceptual frame for poetic composition.  

We will test what can and can’t be translated into poetry: How can the sound of one language be translated into another? How can the human body be translated into poetry? What about a city, a flower, a glacier, or an experience of exile? How do these worldly forms become poetic form? 

Among the themes we will visit are: 

• translation and adaptation as starting points for creating new poetry.
• exploring poetic forms from around the world
• translation as a model for appreciating and honouring diverse cultures
• poetry as a response to other writing and artworks
• translating into poetry our everyday interactions, and our embodied experiences of the world
• developing new ways to render poetic ideas onto the page, into performance, and into other media.

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

• demonstrate awareness and control of the elements of poetry
• discuss and evaluate the work of fellow students and established writers in relation to elements of craft 
• interpret, self-evaluate and communicate constructive feedback
• maintain a regular writing habit and produce more effective creative work independently
• use language more confidently, precisely and imaginatively
• experiment with style and form
• solve craft-related problems in your poetry writing
• deepen your knowledge and understanding of world poetry
• think critically and independently about creative works you have written and read
• edit and revise, and apply technique and critical analysis to the development of a piece of creative work.