Poetry Writing

Course Summary

Join established Australian poet Claire Gaskin and take a journey into the wonderful world of poetry. Whether you are just starting out, or you are simply curious, this course will not only discuss the style and features of published poems but students will also be encouraged to write their own poetry, for sharing and discussion.

Claire will provide instruction in types and features of poetry. The group will workshop participants’ poems written during the course. Beginners are welcome. Those working on a poetry project may also ask for the opportunity to present it for response and discussion.

Students are expected to write a number of poems during the course, perhaps a small collection using a range of ideas and techniques. Poetry students will understand better their aims in writing and willgain experience in evaluation and revision.

Participants should bring paper and writing materials, in addition to ideas and curiosity, and maybe a favourite poem.

Dr Claire Gaskin has been writing and publishing poetry extensively for over three decades. She is a long-term teacher and lecturer at universities and in the community sector. Many of her students have gone on to achieve significant publishing profiles. She has published five collections of poetry. A Snail in the Ear of the Buddha, a chapbook, published by SOUP Publications in 1998. She completed her first full-length collection of poetry a bud in receipt of an Australia Council Literature Board grant. A bud was released by John Leonard Press in 2006, and shortlisted in the John Bray SA Festival Awards for Literature. Paperweight, was published in 2013 by Hunter Publishers. Eurydice Speaks was published by Hunter Publishers in 2021. Claire’s fourth full-length collection, entitled Ismene’s Survivable Resistance, was completed as the creative component of her PhD in Writing and Literature at Deakin University, and published by Puncher & Wattmann in 2021. 

Her poetry has been anthologized in Australian Poetry 2009, Motherlode, Australian Love Poems 2013, Best Australian Poems 2009, 2010, 2013 and in Contemporary Australian Poetry and Contemporary Australian Feminist Poetry. 

https://clairegaskinpoetry.com

And you can hear Claire reading some of her work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfffcdLpiJ8

Books

A Snail in the Ear of the Buddha (1998), Soup Publications

A bud (2006), John Leonard Press

Paperweight (2013), Hunter Publishers

Eurydice Speaks (2021), Hunter Publishers

Ismene’s Survivable Resistance (2021), Puncher & Wattmann

Weather Event (2023) forthcoming with Gazebo Books