Pushing the Line: with John McCullough
How can you shape your poetry to move a reader who doesn't know you?
9 June 2022
This talk and workshop led by the prize-winning poet John McCullough will look at the key elements of writing poetry in the 21st century and will guide attendees through the effects of different techniques including rhythm, imagery and plays on sound, as well as how poets use features like lines and stanzas. He will look at some contemporary poems, attendees will learn about generating creative images and phrasing using freewriting and there will be writing exercises to help produce original, imaginative pieces.
John McCullough’s book of poems, Reckless Paper Birds (Penned in the Margins) won the 2020 Hawthornden Prize and was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. He also won the Polari First Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. His new collection, Panic Response, explores personal and cultural anxiety, and the ways people respond.