About the course

Are you a young poet between the ages of 18-25 with a desire to hone and develop your craft? Are you looking for a place to experiment and push your poetry practice to another level? Do you want to learn more about poetry and meet with other poetry obsessives? Have you been experimenting with poetry but feel like the ‘poetry world’ isn’t for you? Then this might just be the workshop you’ve been waiting for.

This course will focus on developing your technique, honing your craft, and expanding your poetry practice in the spirit of sharing and collectivity. It will focus on widening your practice through play and experimentation and it will introduce a broad range of contemporary poetry. It will also help you develop your draft poems through a combination of critical feedback, practical exercises, and in-depth discussion. We aim to challenge, critique, and inspire in a collaborative and supportive environment.
No prior experience is necessary to take part, just a commitment, interest and willingness to be open to giving and receiving critical feedback.

After booking your place, we ask that you send the following to [email protected] by 1 May:

• A short bio (up to ½ page A4) about you, your background and writing experience if any
• Why you’re interested in the course and what you’d like to get out of it (up to ½ page A4)
• Three of your poems, if you’ve written any

Please feel free to submit this via video, either as an attachment or downloadable link.

Who is it for?

This course is for underrepresented writers aged 18-25–those who face barriers to opportunities due to mental health issues, physical health/disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities, neurodivergence, substance misuse, survivors, LGBTQIA+ and working class backgrounds. People from global majority backgrounds are particularly welcomed.

Travel costs of up to £2/session are available to ensure access. Please contact us if you’d like more information, or simply bring your ticket/receipt to the session to be reimbursed.

Dates

Wednesdays 18/25 May and 8/15/22/29 June 2022

Times

6:30 – 8:30 pm

Cost

£12 total (£2 per session). As we have limited spaces available we are charging a small fee to ensure commitment to the course.

About the course leaders

IMPART has been generously supported by the Baring Foundation to provide a year-long training and development programme under its Creatively Minded and Ethnically Diverse strand.

Emerging writers are being mentored by more experienced ones in how to run creative writing workshops. In this instance, Jess is being mentored by Gboyega and they, in turn, are both co-leading the course.

About Jess Murrain

Jess Murrain is an interdisciplinary creative, working mainly in theatre, film and live performance. She is co-founder of Theatre with Legs, an experimental performance making company. Her poetry has appeared in Perverse, Powers Press, Queerlings, Tentacular and Under the Radar. She won this year’s Ledbury Poetry Competition and the 2021 Silver Poetry CF Writers’ Award. She is also a member of the Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective. Her debut One Woman-Horse Show is forthcoming with Bad Betty Press.

About Gboyega Odubanjo

Gboyega Odubanjo was born and raised in east London and is the author of two poetry pamphlets, While I Yet Live (Bad Betty Press, 2019) and Aunty Uncle Poems (Smith|Doorstop, 2021). He is an editor of the online poetry magazine bath magg.

If the course is full, you can sign up for the waiting list by emailing us here.

These workshops are supported by