Performance poetry
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- Start Date: 19 Sep 2025End Date: 24 Oct 2025Fri (Daytime): 12:30 - 14:30In PersonFull fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £80.00
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
The course is about exploring and discovering performance poetry, also known as the spoken word.
Students say: The tutor is enthusiastic, personable and good at what they do; enjoyable and challenging; inspiring and entertaining; great fun - I learned lots and would do this again.
What will we cover?
- The spoken word and how it differs from the written word.
- How the spoken word works.
- Conventions of the spoken word.
- How to use the rules and conventions and how to break them.
- Finding your own style/delivery.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Write a spoken word piece.
- Perform your pieces in front of an audience.
- Be critical and accept feedback.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
The course is for those new to performance poetry/spoken word, with or without previous poetry experience.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Activities, visual and audio aids, writing, discussion.
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.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offer a range of poetry courses at a range of levels. Browse the writing section of the website to find the perfect course for you.
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.
Toby Campion is an award winning poet and playwright. Winner of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2024 and shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem 2024, Toby is a former UK National Poetry Slam winner and World Poetry Slam finalist. His debut short collection, Through your blood, was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes 2018 and his poems have been published widely, most recently in The Rialto, bath magg, And Other Poems, Aesthetica and The London Magazine. Toby is the founder of the National Poetry Collectives Showcase and the Director of UniSlam. He teaches the London-based queer creative writing group, verse, and has taught for organisations including Roundhouse, Financial Times, National Trust and The Poetry Society.
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.