Summer Poetry Masterclass

Mon 2 September 2024 - Sat 7 September 2024

Tutors / Gillian Clarke & Maura Dooley

Guest Reader / Imtiaz Dharker

Course Fee / From £725 - £825 per person

Genre / Poetry

Language / English

Deadline for applications: 30 June

This masterclass is aimed at committed poets aiming to further develop their writing. The week will feature a group workshop each morning to prompt the creation of new poems, and you will also enjoy and be inspired by two evening poetry readings during the week: one by the tutors, and the other by a visiting poet. Free afternoons will allow you to discuss poetry with your co-writers, focus on your own writing or take walks to gain inspiration from Tŷ Newydd’s beautiful surroundings. The course will end with the creation of an anthology featuring work created by the participants and tutors, and a celebratory evening of readings in the library. This course will challenge and inspire writers looking to develop the shape, music and imaginative possibilities of their poetry.

Applying for the Masterclass

14 poets will be selected for this Masterclass through an application process. The tutors will select the successful writers based on the quality, potential and freshness of the application and the poems submitted. In line with our equality and representation values, factors including background, under-represented characteristics and geographical location may also be considered.

To apply, please fill out the simple application form available here. Please note that the application form will ask you to upload an example of your poetry, and we suggest submitting between four and six of your original poems. If you require assistance with your application, please contact us.

We will contact all applicants by mid-July to advise of the outcome of the selection process for this Masterclass.

Tutors

Gillian Clarke

Gillian Clarke was National Poet of Wales 2008-2016 and was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2010. Some of her most recent publications include Selected Poems, published by Picador in 2016, Zoology, her ninth collection from Carcanet in 2017, and Roots Home, essays and a journal also published by Carcanet in February 2021. Her version of Aneirin’s 7th century Welsh poem, Y Gododdin, was published as a bilingual text by Faber in May 2021. A collection of poems, The Silence, is currently in progress.  

Maura Dooley

Maura Dooley’s most recent collection Five Fifty-Five (Bloodaxe) was published in 2023. With Elhum Shakerifar she published translations of verse by the Iranian poet Azita Ghahreman, Negative of a Group Photograph (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2018) which received a PEN award and was shortlisted for the Warwick Women in Translation Prize. She has been short-listed for the Forward Single Poem Award, twice for the TSEliot Award and is a recipient of both a Gregory and Cholmondeley Award. Maura has also taught fiction and memoir, programmed literary festivals and worked in theatre. She is Professor Emerita at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Guest Reader

Imtiaz Dharker

Imtiaz Dharker is a poet, artist and video film maker, awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014. She has been Poet in Residence at Cambridge University Library and worked on several projects across art forms in Leeds, Newcastle and Hull as well as the Archives of St Paul’s Cathedral. Her six collections include Over the Moon (Bloodaxe, 2014) and the latest, Shadow Reader (forthcoming Bloodaxe, 2024), with poems featured on radio, television, the London Underground and Mumbai buses. She has had eleven solo exhibitions of drawings and scripts and directs video films, many of them for non-government organisations working in the area of shelter, education and health for women and children in India.

Online Booking

Paying by Cheque?

If you wish to pay by cheque, simply use the online booking form above and select ‘Pay by Cheque’ in the payment options.

Not sure what to expect?

For detailed information about attending a course or retreat at Tŷ Newydd, take a look at our frequently asked questions page…

Click here to visit our FAQs

Need Some Help?

If you have any questions or are experiencing problems with booking online, call us…