There has been a return, over the last couple of years, of the long poem; we’ll explore through close-readings different examples of the form, how it works and what it might be trying to do, as well as attempting to push our own poems and forms in new directions and new lengths. Don’t worry that ‘long poem’ might mean some great epic- even three stanzas looks long to a haiku!
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Tutor: Andrew McMillan – Poet
Andrew McMillan was born in South Yorkshire in 1988; his debut collection ‘physical’ was the first ever poetry collection to win The Guardian First Book Award. The collection also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, a Somerset Maugham Award (2016), an Eric Gregory Award (2016) and a Northern Writers’ award (2014). It was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Costa Poetry Award, The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2016, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Roehampton Poetry Prize and the Polari First Book Prize. It was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2015. Most recently ‘physical ‘has been translated into Norwegian (Aschehoug, 2017) and a bi-lingual French edition, Le Corps Des Hommes (Grasset, 2018). His second collection, ‘playtime’, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2018; it is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2018. He is senior lecturer at the Manchester Writing School at MMU and lives in Manchester. Photo: Urszula Soltys |
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Guest, Wednesday evening: Fleur Adcock – Poet
Fleur Adcock was born in New Zealand but spent the years 1939-47 in England and has lived in London since 1963. Her books of poetry, all published by Bloodaxe Books, are: Poems 1960-2000 (2000), Dragon Talk (2010), Glass Wings, (2013), The Land Ballot (2015) and Hoard (2017). She has also published translations from Romanian and medieval Latin poetry, edited several anthologies, including The Faber Book of 20th Century Women’s Poetry, and written libretti and texts for a number of musical works. In 2006 she was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. Photo: Jemimah Kuhfeld |
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| PRICES | Fee includes all day and evening tutored workshop sessions, readings, accommodation and full board (not including alcohol).
Single – En-suite room £790 |
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| TO BOOK | £150 deposit payable on booking by PayPal, bank transfer or cheque, to secure place, balance due six weeks before start of course. Please see Terms and Conditions. |
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| INCLUDED |
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| WHAT TO BRING |
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| START TIME | Please arrive between 3:00pm and 5:00pm on Monday 10th June 2019. Tea and Cake 4.30pm Introductory Workshop 5.45 – 6.45pm |
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| END TIME | After breakfast, 10:00am on Saturday 15th June 2019. | ||||||||||
| LOCATION | The Garsdale Retreat, Clough View, Garsdale Head, Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10 5PW Nearest railway station: Garsdale, on the Leeds – Carlisle line. For directions, see Find Us section on the Contact page. |
Courses
The Garsdale Retreat provides an inspiring place to develop as a writer. Our courses offer opportunities for new, emerging and experienced writers. The tutors, all professional writers, lead workshops and also give one-to-one tutorials to help the individual student. In the remote and beautiful setting of The Yorkshire Dales, The Garsdale Retreat gives a wonderful opportunity to escape from the daily stresses of life and to draw inspiration from fellow students, tutors and the landscape itself.
All courses start on Monday afternoon, arrival time 3.00 – 5.00pm. On this first day, tea and cake are at 4.30pm followed by an introductory/ice-breaking workshop 5.45 – 6.45pm. Dinner is at 7.00pm. All courses end after breakfast on Saturday (10.00am).
Course Structure
Although there will be slight variations, according to the type of course (see below), students can generally expect the following outline:
8.00 – 9.00am: Breakfast
9.30 – 11.00am: First workshop – Students explore particular aspects of the chosen genre and take part in writing exercises to further their understanding and expertise. All students have opportunities to share their work with the tutor and fellow writers in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment in which individual work is respected and confidence developed.
11.00 – 11.30am: Coffee break
11.30am – 1.00pm: Second workshop
After lunch, participants are free to do whatever they like, such as: relax, go for walks, enjoy The Dales, draw, paint, read or work on individual writing projects.
4.30pm: Tea and cake
5.00 – 6.00pm: Third workshop
7.00pm: Dinner
All students have one individual tutorial of 30 minutes with the tutor in the course of the week which usually takes place at a mutually agreed time, usually in the afternoon.
Each evening, at about 8.30pm, there is an after-dinner event. The precise nature of this varies according to the type of course but participants can typically expect a tutor reading on Tuesday followed by a reading from a guest writer on the Wednesday evening. There is an informal activity on Thursday such as a student ‘open-mic’ night or word/literary game. On Friday, there is a reading of work produced during the week.
Poetry Course Anthology
An integral part of poetry courses is the production of an anthology of writing produced in the week. It is, of course, accepted that the writing is essentially work-in-progress. However, the aim of the anthology is to reflect a flavour of the work accomplished on the course and to provide participants with an attractive record of their time at Garsdale. The Retreat stores copies of anthologies in the library, providing pleasure and inspiration for future students.
Tutored Retreats
These follow the same basic structure as above except there is only one workshop in the morning and, depending on the size of the group, participants will have between two and four tutorials per week.
Untutored Retreats
The only formal structure of the week is determined by meal-times (see above), allowing participants to concentrate totally on their own writing. After dinner, participants in conjunction with the course director sometimes organise evening read-rounds of their work /open mics/music /word games. However, participation in such events is entirely voluntary and people are free to continue with their writing in the evenings if they prefer.
