'No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader' (Robert Frost): how do we surprise ourselves in the writing of new poems, let in the super-real as well as honest feeling and thought?

Looking at how we can use patterning and form to generate transformative ideas and juxtapositions, in this workshop we'll experiment with a variety of techniques to help give shape to the unexpected poem-within-the-poem during both early drafts and editing. We'll focus on writing poetry as an investigation in which poems often subvert our original intentions to achieve an independent life, exploring how sound can subtly influence the direction of travel.

By the end of the session, participants will have several pieces engaging with the strange to develop further, as well as ideas on how they might bring surprise into future work.  

​About John McCullough
John McCullough lives in Hove. His third book of poems, Reckless Paper Birds, was published with Penned in the Margins and won the 2020 Hawthornden Prize for Literature as well as being shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. John’s previous collections have been Books of the Year for publications including the Guardian and the Independent, and he also won the Polari First Book Prize. His poem ‘Flower of Sulphur’ was shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. His fourth collection, Panic Response, was published in March 2022 by Penned in the Margins.