COURSE SUMMARY:

You love words. You have things to say and you know you want to say them in a poem.

But capturing on the page what is in your mind – and heart – can feel overwhelming. This course, led by experienced poetry event convenor, published poet, novelist and magazine editor ROBERTA LOWING, will accelerate your poetry-writing progress by showing you how to unlock the words within.

The Poetry Crafting Workshop Course is designed to introduce class members to poetic forms, including free verse, to inspire their own work. It is suitable for anyone writing their first poem, returning to poetry or those experienced writers interested in classic poetic forms as well as more unusual and playful poetic structures. For members interested in public reading events, especially poetry slams, there will be an emphasis on sound throughout the course, and how to insert rhythm into poetry, with and without rhyme.

Each week includes a tutorial on the allotted topic; class discussion of poems selected to showcase specific forms, and take-home creative exercises. Time will be allocated for a class member to workshop (share) their poem for feedback; small-group workshopping outside class will also be available. (Workshopping is available to members who sign up for four or more Crafting Course sessions; a bonus, free practice session at the microphone is available to all Full Course and Single Session attendees).

POETRY CRAFTING WORKSHOP

Course: 8 weeks, 2 hours weekly

Date: September 29, 2026 - November 17, 2026

Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm (with one 10-minute interval)

Price: $45 for single sessions, $299 for the entire 8-week course for one person; Concession $38 for a single session please show a non-digital student ID (with expiry date) or a valid Senior, Pensioner or other concession card when entering.

Venue: 852 Hong Kong Restaurant (Restaurant will be closed to other customers during these workshops)

Address: Shop 6a/503 King Street, Newtown 2042

Ages: 16 years and over

*Disabled access to restaurant main entry and bathroom.

*Microphone, stand and amplifier available on-site.

*Free Wi-fi available

*Support dogs allowed

What to bring:

Please bring pen and paper or fully charged device if you wish to record written notes.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1 (September 29): Making A Poem: Tricks To Inspire, Tools To Create.

You’ve got an idea for a poem or even a few words or phrases. Now you need to find the rest of the poem! We’ll apply the ‘shower principle’ – switch off your thinking mind and the ideas will come – using creative writing prompts, ‘free’ writing, and simple ‘focusing’ exercises. We’ll show you clever but simple tools, including a writing ‘log’, to help you find a stress-free writing routine. We’ll begin playing with poetic forms by examining black-out poems, and ‘found’ and ‘flarf’ poetry. We’ll see how just a few lines of haiku or free verse can create an entire world in a ‘micro-poem’.

Week 2 (October 06): Narrators And The ‘Voice’ Of Your Poem.

The most memorable poems often have narrators who seem to ‘speak’ directly to the reader. This week we’ll look at vivid, believable narrators in sonnets, prose poems and free verse, and un-reliable narrators in the dramatic monologue. We’ll examine creative components in these poems – such as point of view and word choices – that you can apply to your own work. We’ll also explore the importance of reading poetry aloud (at home) to discover your own, natural, speaking rhythm to help your reading in public.

Week 3 (October 13): Crafting Content In Political And Personal Poems.

Once upon a time, English-speaking poets disguised political commentary in nursery rhymes and suppressed overt emotion in their lyric poems. Then the American-led Confessional Poets re-positioned poetry-writing as a self-care tool for reclaiming agency after trauma. This week we’ll look at famous Confessional Poems and the creative elements they use to deliver personal content without overwhelming or alienating their readers. We’ll also analyse poetry ‘mine-fields’ in confessional and political poetry and how to approach potentially triggering content in your own poems, whether on the page or at the microphone.

Week 4 (October 20): Controlling Mood And Tone In Your Poem.

This week’s session explores the creative cause-and-effect interaction of tone and mood. Using selected poems, we’ll see how a poem’s tone (how its subject matter is ‘sent out’ by the poet to the reader) can result in a specific mood (the emotion felt by the reader absorbing the poet’s words). Consider this real-life example: ‘Their tone was sharp, which made my mood cranky’. To help you achieve the impact you want, we’ll look at the art of precision in the 20th century ‘modernist’ literary movements of imagism and objectivism (“no ideas but in things”) and explore that poetic bridge to dreams and the unconscious mind: surrealism.

Week 5 (October 27): The Sound(s) Of Your Poem – On Page And Stage.

Finding the rhythm (the beat) in your lines does more than give your poem structure: it can help with the stress of public readings. Knowing where to end a line tells you where to take a breath; adding sound devices such as repetition or rhyme affects a poem’s pace. In this session, we’ll look at rhythm with rhyme, in the villanelle poetic form, and without rhyme, in the ghazal and sestina. We’ll explore two simple approaches to ‘counting’ the beats in your poem, using ‘syllabics’ and Gerard Manley Hopkins’s ‘sprung rhythm’. Note: this session will not include detailed instruction of (English-language) poetic meter. Please see the next Poetry Fine-Tuning Workshop.

Week 6 (November 3). Editing: First Lines, Last Lines And Choosing A Title.

All good editing starts with close reading of your work before you show it to others. That includes scrutinizing your first lines, last lines and everything in between to help you spot unintended cliches, spelling mistakes and wrongly-placed words. A portion of the class-time will focus on choosing the right title for your poem. We’ll look at the importance of punctuation – including when reading in public – and how a poem’s visual lay-out can impact readers, especially with free verse and concrete or ‘shape’ poems.

Week 7 (November 10): Submitting To Journals, Book Publishers And Competitions.

We’ll look at how analysing your work helps you submit to the right book publishers, poetry journals and competitions, including the number one submitting rule: read their rules! Also this week: how to introduce your poems at public readings; pitching your finished poetry collection to legitimate publishers and avoiding scammers and ‘vanity’ presses; self-publishing your own chapbook and smaller collections. Discover the value of regular ‘workshopping’: sharing your own poems with a supportive writers’ group. Learn the best tips to running your own group and try a short practice reading at the microphone (optional for all members).

Week 8 (November 17): Performing: From Page To Mic, And Back Again.

Using the experiences of Week 7, we will look at open mic events: what to do when the technical gremlins strike; how not to annoy convenors, and how not to lose points at poetry slams. We’ll examine the work of famous performance poets and orators and compare their written poems and speeches with their public readings. We’ll explore additional forms you might like to try, such as ekphrastic poems, mirror and etheree poems, meta-poetry and abecedarians. There will be time allotted to revisit any previous topics or address additional questions.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS COURSE:

Each class member receives a printed copy and digital copy of the Weekly Tutorial and Poems For Discussion hand-outs, the Creative Exercises and Suggested Reading Lists.

All workshopping, microphone sessions and creative writing exercises are optional.

No member needs to contribute to any class discussion or workshop unless they wish to. Members who wish to workshop must supply printed copies of their poem; they will need access to a home printer or a self-serve printing booth at a public library or store.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS COURSE:

The aim of this course is to:

· introduce you to poetic forms, old and new, for inspiration.

· offer creative writing prompts to help you start writing poems from the very first week.

· encourage you to use a writing ‘log’ and other techniques to establish a sustainable writing routine.

· supply the editing and revision techniques to make you feel ready to submit to competitions, journals and book publishers.

· offer advice and a practice session at the microphone so you will read confidently in public.

· help you avoid classic beginner mistakes in both writing and performing your poems.

· Outline the best rules for setting up a successful writing group to share your work.

ABOUT THE TEACHER:

Roberta Lowing’s poems have appeared in journals such as Meanjin, Cordite, Southerly, Rabbit, Newcastle Poetry Prize Anthology, Best Australian Poems, Groundswell: The Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize 2007-2020 Edited by Toby Fitch, and Aesthetica Creative Writing Award Anthology (UK). Her concrete poem, ‘The Cheese Poem’, appeared in the 2025 illustrated anthology, This Is Us: Essential Australian Poems For Young People.

Roberta’s first collection of poetry, Ruin (a 55-poem sequence on the Iraq War), was co-winner of the 2011 Asher Literary Award. Her second full-length collection, The Searchers, was published in 2014. Her most recent collection, This Attic of Fire, references historical and looming environmental disasters.

House Rules:

No photos, video filming or audio recording during class.
Please do not eat during class.
Available to purchase at the restaurant before and after class, and in intervals: juice, tea, soft drinks
Available to buy after class: wine, beer
This is a safe space: please show respect to staff and all members of the class.
Please ensure your mobile devices are all on silent mode

Contact the host of Poetry Crafting Workshop Newtown Sydney