What is the relationship between words, sounds and actions? Where does poetry begin? Explore nonsense, play, constraint and recombination. Write a poem led by sound, listen to mondegreens (mishearings) and write down what you hear, make a list of words collaboratively and then individually rename them.

Join a Group Zoom with your tutor and peers.

How does time function in a poem? What does slow and fast thinking look like in a poem? How do parts of speech (verbs, nouns, conjunctions) affect our experience of time? How does word order change it?

Who speaks in a poem? Who is the ‘I’ and who is the ‘you’? How does voice come into the poem? Thinking on voice as construction: persona, dialect and address. The poem as speech, record or performance.

How does poetry describe the world? What are different ways of describing? How may we make use of metaphor and metonymy, and how do those choices change the poem? We will consider Roland Barthes’s theory of indices and informants, and apply it to poetry. Work with response, translation, interference. Write using dialogue, artwork, performance, metonyms, encyclopaedia entry.

Use this time to reflect on your work so far, have a one-on-one zoom tutorial with your tutor, and consider your final project.

We will look at the history of the line break. What are the different kinds of line break? What about a poem without line breaks? Think about editing as discovery: cutting, shaping, restructuring.

There will be a guest poet Zoom Q&A.

What is lyric? What is narrative? How does storytelling function in poetry? You’ll consider hybrid and cross-genre approaches and write a poem exploring or disrupting narrative.

Thinking through writing: philosophy, criticism, speculation. What is the relationship between poetry and knowledge? Try writing at the edge of what can be said, a poem that engages with an idea, argument or critical position.

There will be a group Zoom call to discuss your work and learning thus far.

In this session, there are no formal exercises, readings or videos. The focus is on polishing, editing and applying lessons studied over the course. Submit a portfolio of up to 20 pages (max. 2,000 words) – or equivalent for those working in mixed-media forms.

Join your tutor for a one-on-one exit tutorial to discuss any considerations before submitting your final piece.

There will be a Zoom Q&A with a Granta staff guest.