Craft & Choice in Revision, Poetry Workshop with Cath Drake 2/3/26

How do we edit our poems to make good poems even better? Careful and considered crafting and the choices we make really matter.

In this small group workshop there will be fun exercises and discussion to consider the power of aspects such as lineation (line breaks), word choice and register.

We’ll pool our experience and knowledge, and play with poems where extra or less powerful words have slipped into the mix and discuss the impact. We’ll consider text where the lineation has been removed and consider the choices in lineating from scratch, the power and impact of our choices. 

Seemingly small changes can ‘click’ a poem into shape. There may no clearcut right or wrong in our decisions, but they make can make a poem weaker or stronger. Join us to help hone your revision skills in this enjoyable workshop. 

Note: Participants will be sent word documents to work on during the workshop just before we start.

1.5 hours long

Start time: 9am UK time // 5pm Perth Australia // 7.30pm Adelaide // 6.30 Darwin // 7pm Brisbane // 8pm Sydney, AEST // 10pm NZ

Online on Zoom

£23 GBP

Times on the homepage of this site are in London, UK Timezone, but when you add the event to your calendar it should be correct for your local time zone.

You can check your timezone against London UK time here: https://greenwichmeantime.com/time-gadgets/time-zone-converter/

Cost £23 GBP (with cost effective exchange via STRIPE)

Zoom link and materials will be sent by email at least 2 days prior. If you don’t receive it get in touch with me.

About the facilitator: Cath Drake is from Perth, Australia and lives in London, UK Her poetry collection, The Shaking City (Seren Books, 2020) was longlisted in international Laurel Prize and highly commended in the UK Forward Prize. It was described by Philip Gross as ‘a guide to staying clear-eyed, combative and caring in unsettling times.’ It followed Sleeping with Rivers, a Poetry Book Society Choice & winner of the Seren/Mslexia poetry pamphlet prize. Cath has been published widely in anthologies and literary journals in UK, Ireland, US and Australia, including Best Australian Poems (4x), Plumwood Mountain Journal and The Weekend Australian. She has twice been be awarded second place in the international Ginkgo Eco-poetry Prize and also highly commended in this prize. An environmental science graduate, Cath worked for a decade as an environmental scientist, writer and journalist and won awards for her environmental nonfiction writing and broadcasting. Cath is also mindfulness teacher and she runs The Verandah, quality online poetry events.

More events here https://www.cathdrake.com