Writing black out poetry
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- Start Date: 14 Jun 2025End Date: 14 Jun 2025Sat (Daytime): 10:30 - 16:30In PersonFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00
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What is the course about?
The emerging form of black out poetry is enabling poets to find hidden poems in their every day life and share them with the world. This course teaches the form of black out poetry, the different approaches a poet can take to this form and places it in the wider context of found poetry. Students will have the opportunity to engage with numerous writing activities and receive feedback on their work.
What will we cover?
- What is black out poetry.
- The different approaches to black out poetry.
- How to shape the original found piece into a poem.
- The wider context of found poetry.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Understand different approaches to black out poetry.
- Write your own black out poems.
- Undestand black out poetry in the wider context of found poetry.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This is an introductory course for students at all levels.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
You will be taught through a mix of pair work, group work, composition and writing tasks, tutor instruction and workshop.
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?
Please bring writing materials and, if you can, scissors and a Pritt-stick type glue. You'll also need a thick black marker pen for erasure/blackout work.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offer a range of poetry courses including 'Writing sonnets' and 'Poetry and the moving image'. For more information browse the writing section of our website.
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.
Sarah Westcott is an award-winning poet and journalist who has been writing professionally for over 20 years. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway and has published three books of poetry. Her first collection Slant Light, published by Liverpool University Press (Pavilion Poetry) was Highly Commended in the 2017 Forward Prizes. Her pamphlet Inklings was a Poetry Book Society choice. Her second collection, Bloom, was published in May 2021 with Pavilion Poetry. Sarah's poems have appeared in magazines including Poetry Review, POEM and Magma, on beermats, billboards and the side of buses, and in anthologies including Best British Poetry. She was a writer-in-residence at the Bethnal Green nature reserve in 2016 and had her poems installed in the trees, triggered by footsteps. Recent awards are first prize in the London Magazine poetry prize, the Poets and Players Prize and the Manchester Cathedral poetry prize. Sarah grew up in north Devon, on the edge of Exmoor, and lives in Kent with her family. She is particularly interested in writing about the natural world.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.