Poetry Courses
Study online or in London
From introductory courses to the more in-depth longer courses, revisit classic works or enjoy discovering new poets, sharing your views in lively class discussions.
21 courses available
The Poetry of W.B. Yeats: later poems, 1919-1939This in-college, one-day course examines the final two decades of Yeats’ career. Tracking the development of the poet chronologically, selecting the greatest poems from each collection in turn, we shall discover the variety of his artistic output: modernist, elegist, symbolist, love poet, lyric poet, and political poet.
Keeley Street
Sun 9 May 2027Alexander Fairbairn-DixonFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00- Occupied France in Fiction and Film
This class explores the world of occupied France in literature and film, delving into the culture and character of survival and betrayal that shaped the French experience of the years 1940 to 1944. From writers such as Joseph Kessel and Patrick Modiano to filmmakers Jean Pierre Melville and Joseph Losey, the class dissects artistic meditations on the ordeal of France and its citizens in its darkest hour.
Keeley Street
Thu 13 May 2027Richard NilandFull fee £189.00 Senior fee £151.00 Concession £123.00 - Keats and eternity
In the house where many of them were written, we will explore why Keats’s poems are regarded as exceptionally beautiful. How did he achieve this? We will see that it wasn’t luck or simply inspiration, but the result of choices which reflect important aspects of Keats’ personality. Includes ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, Ode to a Grecian Urn’ and ‘To Autumn’.
This course will take place at Keats House, 10 Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR.Off Site
Sat 5 Jun 2027Alexander Fairbairn-DixonFull fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - Samuel Beckett's Women: the Works and the Life
Explore Beckett’s relationships with women - a lifetime’s evolution, on and off the page - from the antagonisms and entrapments of his earliest fictions, the Novellas and the Trilogy, to the astonishing transfer of power represented by Winnie in ‘Happy Days’, the preponderance of females in the later short plays and monologues, and the renewed ambivalence towards “the source of all evil” in ‘Company’ and ‘Ill Seen Ill Said’.
Keeley Street
Fri 11 Jun 2027Stephen WinfieldFull fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - 'This morning's minion': the passions of Gerard Manley Hopkins
This day course will explore why Hopkins wrote highly original poems of great power and beauty, but didn’t attempt to have them published in his lifetime. We will look at how this relates to his conversion to Roman Catholicism and, in turn, how this may have related to fears about his sexuality.
Keeley Street
Sat 12 Jun 2027Laurie SmithFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Demystifying Poetry
Whether you are new to poetry or an experienced reader of verse, this course will enable and enhance your enjoyment by exploring the techniques that poetry uses to affect our response and create meaning. Exploring rhythm and rhyme, voice, mood, imagery, language and allusions, we will focus on a diverse range of poetic examples to examine how this powerful form of literature works to create emotion and connection with the reader.
Keeley Street
Tue 3 Nov 2026Linda GrantFull fee £39.00 Senior fee £31.00 Concession £25.00
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