Any plans for the next six weeks?

No, didn’t think so.

As we begin another month-or-so of lockdown, now is the time to choose something worthwhile to fill the long days and nights ahead.

If you’ve always enjoyed poetry but you’re not sure how to go about writing your own, award-winning poet Jane Clarke will be tutoring a Poetry Writing workshop, running on Zoom at 2pm on Wednesday afternoons from October 28th to December 16th, inclusive.

Aimed at emerging poets, both beginners and intermediate, the West Cork Literary Festival workshop will focus on writing poems that are moving and memorable. Amongst the aspects of writing which will be covered will be language, imagery, form, rhyme, rhythm, drafting, perspective and motivation.

Jane Clarke is the author of two poetry collections The River and When the Tree Falls (Bloodaxe Books 2015 & 2019), as well as an illustrated chapbook, All the Way Home, (Smith|Doorstop 2019).

All you need is a good wifi connection and access to a laptop, tablet, PC or Mac. The cost of the course is €225 and you can book your place here.

To accompany the course, the recommended reading is Staying Human, ed: Neil Astley (Bloodaxe Books 2020): a selection of 500 contemporary poems from all over the world, which you can order here.