Create your first poetry collection

What is the course about?

Your first poetry collection makes a statement about what kind of poet you are and what kind of messages you want to convey to your audience. This workshop guides students on selecting poems and sequencing poems for maximum effect.

What will we cover?

- Elements to consider when selecting poems for your first collection.
- Elements to consider when sequencing poems for your first collection.
- Titling your first collection.
- Submitting your first collection for publication.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

- How to curate and select poems for your first collection.
- How to sequence poems in a manner that will add to the overall meaning of the collection.
- How to select an appropriate and effective title for your first collection.
- Points to consider when submitting your collection for publication.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This course is an advanced course. Ideally, students will have completed previous poetry courses where their poems have already been workshopped in preparation for compiling their first collection.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

A mixture of pair work, group work and tutor led-instruction.


All writing courses at City Lit will involve an element of workshop. This means that students will produce work which will be discussed in an open and constructive environment with the tutor and other students. The college operates a policy of constructive criticism, and all feedback on another student’s work by the tutor and other students should be delivered in that spirit.

For classes longer than one day regular reading and writing exercises will be set for completion at home to set deadlines.

City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

Writing materials and copies of the poems you're considering including in your first collection.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

All students are invited to join us at Late Lines, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to Between the Lines, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on Facebook and Twitter.