This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
Though it is often taken for granted as an organizing principle, the notion of 'tradition' in poetry often affects what poetry we read, and how we read it. In this module, you will have the opportunity to read and respond to a wide range of poetries that derive from, or are in dialogue with, different poetic traditions. Through these readings, you will learn the various ways that traditions are formed, and the ways in which contemporary poems can both participate within, and deviate from, the traditions within which they are writing. You will have the opportunity to consider the relation between language, identity, and poetic tradition, as well as to reflect on the differences between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange within and between international poetic traditions. Our discussions will be supported with writing exercises week by week, and each seminar will incorporate a writing workshop.
Total contact hours: 33
Private study hours: 267
Total study hours: 300
100% coursework:
Essay (1,500 words) (25%)
Final Portfolio (120 lines of poetry) (65%)
Seminar/ workshop participation (10%)
Attridge, D. (1995) Poetic Rhythm: an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bugeja, M. (1994) The Art and Craft of Poetry, Writer's Digest.
Greene, R. & Cushman, S. (2012) The Princeton Encylopedia of Poetry and Poetics, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Hollander, J (2001) Rhyme's Reason: a guide to English Verses, London: Yale University Press.
Lehman, D. (2003) Great American Prose Poems. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Muldoon, P. Sinclair, I. & Silva, H. (2012) Tom Chivers (ed.), Adventures in Form: A Compendium of Poetic Forms, Rules and Constraints London: Penned in the Margins.
Sansom, P. (1993) Writing Poems Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books.
Strand, M (2001) The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms New York: W.W. Norton.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Read and respond to a range of poetries from different poetic traditions, including international traditions
2. Understand how their own work may be contextualized in relation to traditions that precede and surround them..
3. Critically question and reflect upon how poetic traditions are formulated and understood, and the ways in which poetic innovation participates in, and develops, traditions that precede it.
4. Develop their capacities for close reading a range of poetries and applying editorial scrutiny to their own creative work.
5. Begin to identify their own formal, stylistic and thematic approaches towards their poetry writing practice.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Develop their capacities for close reading and editorial analysis.
2. Develop their creative writing skills to an advanced level.
3. Develop their communication skills, particularly in responding to others' work in the context of the workshop.
4. Apply sophisticated writing techniques to their own creative work.
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