Portfolio of 6-8 pieces of poetic writing.

This will include two pieces of assessment: a critical response to a work of poetry and an original piece of creative writing in each of the poetic forms studied in the module. The overall word length will be of a maximum of 1,500 words. [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4]

This module is structured in one lecture and workshop per week. This module will familiarise students with the basic elements of form and structure and the elements of what makes a well crafted and constructed poem. It will provide an introductory overview and practical guide to poetics for students and allow them to reflect on a variety of poetic practices. The practice-led workshops will supply in-depth practical help with students own poetic writing and explore the theoretical aspects of poetics through discussion through peer groups with particular attention to craft. Students will learn a number of writing techniques and be encouraged to use them in writing imaginatively. They will be given opportunities to practise traditional as well as more experimental forms of poetic expression.

One of the principles underlying this module is the belief that the practice of writing can be assisted by knowledge and understanding of literature, so, the process of critical analysis in other lecture and seminar programmes will compliment a student's writing, reading and evaluation of their work in the workshop sessions. Essential to the text-based workshops classes, for example, will be some consideration of literary form and style, the study of some cutting edge contemporary poets such as Sean O'Brien and Carol Ann Duffy.

Library
Internet
The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available (where relevant) to support this module. Details will be supplied in the module handbook.

Rothenberg and Joris. (1999) Poems for the Millennium. Volume 1. LA: University of California Press.
Paul Hoover. (1994) Postmodern American Poetry. NY: Norton.
Anthony Joseph. (2003) The African Origins of UFOs. Oxford: Salt.