5-Week Online Short Course: Close Work: A Poetic Craft and Workshop Group

This course will run on Mondays from 8th June – 6th July 2026 from 19:00-21:00 BST

Course Overview:

Across 5 live Zoom sessions, award winning poet and poetry teacher Liz Berry will help you to develop the nitty-gritty of your poetic craft through a mixture of close reading, shared writing and workshopping.

Each session will include an hour of practical work (writing exercises, reading, craft discussions) followed by an hour of workshopping in which we’ll take a close look at the work of three poets in the group.

This course will focus on:

• Drafting and editing (first and last lines, line breaks, shape, lifting our language, imagery)
• Shared writing
• Developing feedback and workshopping skills
• Working out where poems get stuck and how to ‘unstick’ them

Participants will benefit from:

• Live Zoom Sessions: Enjoy five interactive live Zoom sessions where you’ll receive expert guidance from an established poet and teacher. Engage in real-time discussions, writing activities and personalised feedback to enhance your writing skills.
• Writing Community: Connect with a community of like-minded writers during each live session. Share your progress, exchange ideas, and receive constructive feedback in a supportive online environment.

Tutor bio:

Liz Berry is an award-winning poet and experienced poetry teacher. Her collections include Black Country (Chatto, 2014); The Republic of Motherhood (Chatto, 2018); and most recently The Home Child (Chatto, 2023), a novel in verse. Liz’s work, described as “a sooty soaring hymn to her native West Midlands” (Guardian), celebrates the landscape, history and dialect of the region. Liz has received the Somerset Maugham Award, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, The Writers’ Prize and two Forward Prizes. Her poem ‘Homing’, a love poem for the language of the Black Country, is part of the GCSE English syllabus. Liz is a patron of Writing West Midlands.

Instagram: @misslizberry

Who is this course suitable for?

• Poets with some experience who are looking to further develop their writing and drafting skills
• Poets seeking to be part of a nurturing but rigorous feedback group

Details:

The sessions will take place online via Zoom Online Meeting software. It is free to download and you will only need the free version to attend. Please download it and check it is working before the course.

Your Zoom link will be sent out in your confirmation email.

Please try and be somewhere you can concentrate and won’t be interrupted. Headphones can be useful if you have some, to cut out other noise.

Bursary Scheme 2025-2026:

We understand that not all writers are able to pay for their writing courses to further their career, and we run a Bursary Scheme as a consequence. If you feel you need a bursary, please contact us: info@writingwestmidlands.org.

Please note: you must sign up for the full course even if you cannot attend all dates. No partial course ticket is available.

Short Courses are for over 18s. If you are a young writer, you can sign up for our Spark Young Writers Programme.

All Writing West Midlands short courses are collaborative, and you will learn as much from your fellow course attendees as from the tutor. You will be expected to play an active role in group tasks, and you will also have time to reflect on your own writing during sessions.

Course handouts are sometimes (but not always) available, and notes may be available in advance upon request. If you have any additional needs, please contact Writing West Midlands in advance of the course starting and we will try to assist you.