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Explore Poetry
Explore Poetry with Lisa Kelly
CULINARY CREATIONS
"How easily happiness begins by / dicing onions"
William Matthews
This course is designed for poets at all stages who are hungry for fresh ideas to explore through poetry.
A poem shares much in common with a recipe – indeed many poets have used the form of a recipe to delve into emotional territory, exploring the way food gives access to family, memory, culture, heritage and identity. What ingredients would you include in your own poem-recipe? Who would it be written for?
Different foods can be symbolic too. Onions, eggs, pomegranates, apples… They’re not just nourishing; they also stand for things. How do we bring this symbolism into our poems as we examine our own myth-making?
Food offers both a pathway to happiness and good memories, and leads to challenging topics such as hunger, scarcity and survival. In these days of ecological crisis, how might we use food in poems to highlight the plight of the planet? We'll also write poems which consider where and how we eat food, covering all tastes from takeaways and fancy restaurants to curled up in bed.
In the first half of each session, we'll read and discuss published poems and write poems of our own, working from creative prompts. In the second half, several participants each week will have the opportunity to bring their own poems for feedback (pun alert!) in an open and constructive environment designed to develop work in progress.
You'll come away from the course with refreshed poetic taste buds a bespoke cookbook of poems.
BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN US
Lisa brought out the best in us, and others' feedback was constructive and kindly delivered.
A lot of food for thought in this course, and practice in reading and writing excellent poems.
Anon from survey
SUCH GOOD FACILITATION
It encouraged me to read a wider range of poetry. I loved the selection of poems Lisa sent out each week - unusual collections. The group really participated in discussions and worked well together - such good facilitation by the tutor.
Anon from survey
ZOOM DELIVERY
Max 12 students
Autumn Term
6 week course
£163
- Wednesdays 10am-12.30pm
- Oct 7, 14, 21, (Break for half term), Nov 4, 11, 18
VERY HELPFUL IN THE EDITING PROCESS
Lisa's selection of poems was great, wide ranging and interesting. Also Lisa very helpful in the editing process.
Anon from survey
Our tutor Lisa says...
Looking at how food has inspired my own poetry, I have written about apples because I am fascinated by their varied and beautiful names. One third of The House of the Interpreter (Carcanet, 2023) was devoted to fungi as a way of exploring my deafness. Whenever anyone mentions ‘smorgasbord’, I am immediately taken back to meals with my departed Danish mother who prepared the most delicious open sandwiches. It will be fascinating to see how food manifests in your poems and what directions your gut will take you.
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Lisa Kelly
Lisa Kelly is a poet and editor based in London. She has single-sided deafness and is half Danish and has been learning British Sign Language (BSL) for several years. She co-edited What Meets the Eye: The Deaf Perspective(Arachne Press), an anthology of poems, short fiction and scripts from UK Deaf and Hard of Hearing writers. She is Chair of Magma Poetry and has co-edited four issues of the magazine: the Conversation issue; the Deaf issue, the Solitude issue and the Grassroots issue. Her second collection, The House of the Interpreter(Carcanet), was a Poetry Book Society Summer Recommendation in 2023 and her first collection, A Map Towards Fluency(Carcanet), was shortlisted for the Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize 2021. She was shortlisted for the 2024 Forward Prizes for Best Single Poem - Written. Her poetry roots are at the Torriano Meeting House in north London where she regularly hosts poetry evenings on a Sunday evening. In her spare time, she enjoys walking and looking out for mushrooms, but not eating them!
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