CW209-30 The Practice of Poetry
Introductory description
The Practice of Poetry is a flagship module of the Warwick Writing Programme and, for over two decades, has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and publishers working at the forefront of contemporary literature. Many graduates have publicly credited the module as the turning point that led them to a life in poetry, and a remarkable number have gone on to achieve national and international recognition as poets, performers and editors. Alumni have won major awards, including the Eric Gregory Award, the Costa Poetry Prize, the Manchester Poetry Competition, and multiple Poetry Book Society Recommendations. Their work has been published by leading presses such as Bloodaxe, Carcanet, Seren, Salt, and Penned in the Margins. Recent changes to the module have grown out of conversations not only with current students but also with distinguished alumni, several of whom have returned to speak candidly with undergraduates about the lasting impact of the course on their professional and creative lives.
Module aims
The module introduces students to a wide spectrum of traditional and experimental approaches to poetry. Through workshop-based learning, students are invited not only to read and write poems but to explore the techniques that both extend and interrogate their developing voice as poets. Sessions include close engagement with formal structures as well as opportunities to push the boundaries of the art through spoken word, conceptual writing, and critical-creative reviewing. Emphasis is placed on learning as a collaborative, embodied, and imaginative event—rooted in real-world creative practice and collective exchange. These aims are closely aligned with the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Creative Writing (2024).
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
TERM 1
Week 1 The Riddle of Form.
Week 2. The Lyric and Duende.
Week 3. The Physicality of a Poem.
Week 4. Talk as Poetry and 'the Sound of Sense'.
Week 5. The Non-verbal Life of Language: Line, Punctuation, Space.
Week 6. Writing Week.
Week 5. The Mathematics of Prosody.
Week 7. The Villanelle.
Week 8. The Pantoum.
Week 9. Sestinas and Double Sestinas.
Week 10. Terza Rima.
TERM 2
Week 11. The Several Species of Sonnet.
Week 12. Intensive workshop on Sonnet Crown
Week 13. Making and Placing Poems: Conceptual Art.
Week 14. Digital Poetry.
Week 15. Poetry as Community: Collaborative Poetry.
Week 16. Writing Week.
Week 17. Spoken Word.
Week 18. Revising Poems and Shaping a Collection.
Week 18. The Marketplace and Reviewing.
Week 20. Cosmology and Praxis.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- By the end of this module the student should be able to work in several forms of poetry and created poems using a variety of media.
- By the end of this module the student should be able to comprehend the working practices of some contemporary poets writing in English, and how their work may be used as models for the student's own practice.
- By the end of this module the student should be able to apply some knowledge of the power and practice of imagination in poetic creation.
- By the end of this module the student should be able to work in metred and unmetred verse using a variety of rhyme strategies.
- By the end of this module the student should be able to appreciate the diversity of contemporary verse strategies, including hybrid poetries, spoken word performance and conceptual art derived from poetic praxis.
- By the end of this module the student should be able to possess some practical understanding of their own poetics, and that of other poets, with regard to poetry.
- By the end of this module the student should be able possess a realistic knowledge of the marketplace for poetry.
Indicative reading list
A Poet’s Guide to Poetry, Mary Kinzie (Chicago University Press, 1999).
Writing Poems, Michelle Boisseau and Robert Wallace (6th ed., Longman Pearson, 2004)
An Introduction to English Poetry, James Fenton (Penguin, 2002)
The Art of Poetry Writing, Mary Oliver (St Martin’s Press, 1992)
Companion Spider, Clayton Eshleman (Wesleyan, 2001)
The Triggering Town, Richard Hugo’s (Norton, 1979).
The Practice of Poetry, edited by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell (HarperResource, 2001).
The Making of a Poem, Mark Strand and Eavan Boland (Norton, 2000)
Poetic Meter and Poetic Form, Paul Fussell (Random House, 1965)
Rhyme’s Reason, John Hollander (Yale, 2001),
All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification, Timothy Steele,
(Ohio, 1999),
The Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes (OUP, 2006)
Spoken Work Resources
Electronic Poetry Center
www.epc.buffalo.edu
The Poetry Archive
http://www.poetryarchive.org/
The Writers at Warwick Archive
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/writingprog/archive/
Subject specific skills
By the end of this module the student should be able to:
Work in several forms of poetry and created poems using a variety of media.
Comprehend the working practices of some contemporary poets writing in English, and how their work may be used as models for the student's own practice.
Apply some knowledge of the power and practice of imagination in poetic creation.
Work in metred and unmetred verse using a variety of rhyme strategies.
Transferable skills
No transferable skills defined for this module.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 18 sessions of 2 hours (12%) |
| External visits | 18 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
| Private study | 246 hours (82%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
Reading & research
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A3
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Filmed Spoken Word Performance or Concept | 20% | No | |
|
A recording of a spoken word performance by the student of no less than 10 minutes; OR a piece of poetry-derived conceptual art with a 300-word commentary on its aims and processes,. |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Portfolio | 60% | No | |
|
Poetry portfolio |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Essay | 20% | No | |
|
Assessed literary essay |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Written feedback on Tabula, workshops, and face-to-face feedback during feedback hours in weeks 1-20.
Pre-requisites
Students from other departments who have not taken or passed CW101 are welcome to enrol, provided they can demonstrate substantial experience in the practice of poetry—whether through previous workshops, spoken word performance, or other forms of sustained poetic engagement. Interested students are asked to contact the module leader in advance via SCAPVCenquiries@warwick.ac.uk.
To take this module, you must have passed:
Courses
This module is Optional for:
- Year 2 of UENA-QP36 Undergraduate English Literature and Creative Writing