Explore a variety of poetry forms and approaches in lively workshop-style classes

Meddling with Poetry will next run in Autumn 2026. Join the newsletter for updates on other upcoming courses and workshops and email megan@thewritersgreenhouse.co.uk if you'd like a reminder about this course closer to the time.

Poetry is for everyone

Poetry is for meddling with – part playground, part Dark Art – and for using. It's vital as an art form, as one of those things humans do (like singing in the shower and making food), and as an invaluable way of expressing yourself and processing thoughts and feelings. Writing poetry is far too useful to be locked away in an elitist golden cage: I want it to fly free and be accessible to everyone.

As with all my courses and workshops, this course is designed for absolute beginners and experienced writers alike – whether you’re still a bit scared of poetry from school, or working on your third pamphlet of acrostic wreathed sestinas. We’ll look at the musicality of language – rhymes, rhythm, and the effects of repeating different sounds, at poetic language and imagery, and at dozens of different forms, each of which allows you to play in a different way.

Join the Meddling with Poetry course

• Eight-week course for adults, one evening a week, 7pm–9:30pm.
• In person OR online: Choose the in-person course in Oxford OR the Zoom course from anywhere in the world
• Cost: 8-week courses are currently £345 (£295 early-bird price). This may rise by 2026, in line with inflation.
• Includes two rounds of individual written feedback on your writing, which can be work you create on the course or your own project.
• All levels welcome: all my courses and workshops cater for a range of experience, from beginners to published writers.
• Next running in Autumn 2026

Weekly topics

Each lesson is themed around a poetry form; across the course, they weave in three other strands of poetry:

• Musicality: types of rhyme and how to use them well, other lighter musical effects, and our associations with them
• Rhythm: Understand natural stress patterns in English, the English “beat”, and the different rhythms we can create with that
• Fresh language: Exploring imagery, the power of unexpected phrasing, succinct language, and a rich sense of meaning

1. Free verse and sensory imagery

Free verse (no set rhyme or metre) lets us focus on everything else that makes something a poem – especially imagery and turning abstract thoughts into tangible images that use all the senses.

2. Old English poems and word-play

Old English poems are a joyful riot of alliteration, a great way to start playing with the musicality of language. They also invite kennings (where the river becomes a "swan-road") and offer a useful introduction to word stress.

3. Rondeaus and effective rhyme

Rondeaus are greedy for rhymes, so we’ll use these to explore how to find multiple rhymes, words which unexpectedly have very few rhymes, and how to use your rhymes to best effect.

4. Cinquains and economy of language

The tiny cinquain makes every word count: the perfect form to practise economy of language, and to try out the many poetic devices we can use to fold meaning into small spaces.

5. Sestinas and going with the flow

You can’t control a sestina, you can only follow it and see where it goes, so it teaches you to go with the flow of your poem, and invites all the poetic devices that create a strangness in our words – plus a lot of fun with words that have multiple meanings.

6. Decuains and natural metre

The decuain is the ten-by-ten: ten lines, each ten syllables, but you can pick whichever metre you like for it, so it’s a great way to explore the effects of different metres and natural sentence stress.

7. Glosas and keeping the meaning open

A poem needs a meaning but it needs to stay open to the reader, too. Writing a glosa of another poet’s lines creates the perfect litmus test: does each line give you enough to explore it, and does it let you explore it or does it belong completely to them, with no room for you?

8. Original forms and English rhythms

All the poetic forms were invented, whether centuries ago or a few years back, and we always get to keep inventing. Inventing forms is a chance to explore everything English rhythm lets us do as well as recap all the features of forms and poetry we’ve covered throughout the course.

The course also includes:

• Time to write: In every session, you have time to write or start writing a poem in class.
• Discover new poems: Each week's Poem-a-Day booklet includes six contemporary poems, which I also send you as audio.
• Individual feedback from me: 2 rounds of written feedback on your poems.
• Peer feedback: Learn how to give and receive supportive, helpful feedback on each other's writing.
• Optional: A poem a day Each week's Poem-a-Day booklet gives you everything you need if you want to try the poem-a-day practice.

For individual and peer feedback, you’ll always choose a poem to share beforehand: I’ll never ask you to share one you’ve just written in class.

The course ends just before the start of NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) when poets all over the world write a poem a day, and heaps of helpful websites offer daily prompts. So if you’ve caught the poem-a-day bug and want to continue, you’ll have plenty of company.

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