Course Catalogue

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This course focuses on the formal dynamics of poetry across a wide range of readings drawn from modern and contemporary poets. You will be introduced to diverse writing techniques, experiments and methodologies, including short forms, prose poems, the poetic sequence, serial poems, found poems, sound poems and visual poems. Through seminars, practical exercises and workshops you will be encouraged to make and situate your portfolio of original poems in relation to recent poetry and poetics.

1 x 2hr workshop per week over ten weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in English Literature and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to Junior Honours students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into English Literature, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

ENGLIT4081 Creative Writing Poetry

ENGLIT4079 and ENGLIT4119 Creative Writing Fiction

ENGLIT4080 and ENGLIT4120 Creative Writing Hybrid Forms

Portfolio of creative writing (4000 words / 280 lines of poetry): 90%

Workshop contribution: 10%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ understand the formal qualities of poetry

■ study contemporary poetry at introductory level

■ experiment with a range of diverse forms

■ develop an assured and imaginative understanding of making poetry

■ acquire the analytical and linguistic tools for assessment and criticism.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ articulate a sophisticated knowledge of some poetic forms and apply these in their own poetry

■ evaluate experiments in discourse, imagery, rhythm, form and voice in modern and contemporary poetry

■ appraise the linguistic and formal elements of poetry and apply these in their own writing

■ assess their own creative process while putting it in a larger and relevant context of creative practice

■ reflect constructively on the work of self and others in a workshop context.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.