Coffee-House Poetry : Readings, Classes, Prizes

welcome

from Coffee-House Poetry organiser, Anne-Marie Fyfe

Latest news:

Yeats first: just 2 days left to honour poetry, & make Conrad Shawcross’s stunning vision of poetic genius enwrought with golden and silver light a reality in Bedford Park.

So we’re hoping all you Troubadour poetry-lovers (readers, audience, workshop-participants & prize-entrants) will back the campaign (£10/£20/£+ pledges welcome) by clicking here in next 24 hrs. And forward to friends, lists, groups &/or share/RT on FB/Twitter? Any help/support v. much appreciated!

Many thanks from Coffee-House Poetry’s Cahal Dallat, (YeatsBedfordPk project leader) to the 240 of you who’ve already pledged £106K — of £135K target, another £10K’s due b4 deadline from Irish Embassy — alongside The Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation, Hounslow Borough & Royal Academy.

In other Coffee-House Poetry news: launch next week of 2021 Troubadour International Poetry Prize (judges, prizes, timeline etc); forthcoming transatlantic #poetrymonday with Naomi Shihab Nye; another season of Between the Lines, Cahal’s popular critical/craft masterclass; & from me, a new themed creative-writing course (with a difference!)

Watch out for next newsletter!

Stay safe, & all best wishes,

classes & courses

sun 2 may—sun 20 jun, £120: the avian eye: 6-wk creative-writing workshop series with anne-marie fyfe
sun 18 apr—sun 30 may, £120: solitary spaces: 6-wk creative-writing workshop series with anne-marie fyfe
sun 14 feb—sun 28 mar, £120: nocturne: a 6-wk creative-writing workshop series with anne-marie fyfe
mon 25 jan—mon 15 mar: £110 between the lines 6, a new 7-wk critical/craft masterclass with cahal dallat
sun 24 jan—sun 7 mar, £120: nocturne: a 6-wk creative-writing workshop series with anne-marie fyfe

See full details of classes and workshops

#poetrymondays on Zoom!

mon 22 mar, 8pm: dana gioia: reading & in-conversation with cahal dallat (free online event)

See full details of poetry readings

(pic: Troubadour, Ricardo Maya)

next event

sun 2 may—sun 20 jun, £120: the avian eye: 6-wk creative-writing workshop series with anne-marie fyfe

The strange charm of the avian eye: ever been transfixed by that steady gaze, wondered why the ancients believed birds symbolised the soul, why legend insisted on transforming humans into flighted things? Perhaps you recall the simple wonder of a bird’s nest accidentally discovered, of watching flapping wings take off, of tracking bird footprints in wet sand?

Take wing on this intensely focused six-week flight into birdworld mystery & myth, image & imagination – from archaeopteryx to Aristophanes to Anne Carson & Alice Oswald – where we’ll explore, from every altitude & angle, how these feathered ‘familiars’ hover over the psyche, roost in the atavistic self, enchant the auditory airscape with their irrepressible music & much more!

Your Avian Eye exercises, images, ideas & inspiration will arrive in your inbox every few days, ending with a module on shaping/structuring your poems/sequence in the (fourth) week’s editing. Two weeks later there’ll be a written appraisal of your submitted work, followed by a chance to share your work in a Zoom end-of-course wrap-reading!

Numbers limited, e-mail coffpoetry@aol.com & PayPal booking link will be forwarded if place available.