Soul, Spirit and the Divine

[Online ]

"Among the material objects
it favors clocks with pendulums
and mirrors, which keep on working
even when no one is looking."
 - Wislawa Szymborska from A Few Words On The Soul

Join us to explore poetry that speaks to the soul, and that (like the soul) does not busy itself with doing; a poem, a soul, that is taken up with being.

We will read and write in response to poems by Rabindranath Tagore, Rumi, Joy Harjo, Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, Rilke, Lorca, Peter Gizzi and more.

About Poetry Studio

Informal discussion on a theme provides an opportunity to reflect on individual poetics, and structured writing exercises are designed to seed new poems.

You will come away having experienced poems by poets familiar and new from around the world, as well as

• the beginnings of 2-3 new poems
• takeaways for further reading and writing
• strategies to develop your work further

Online sessions take place on Zoom and last three hours with short breaks. Places are limited to keep the group small.

“The poetry studio session worked really well for me - the structure, the focus, the carefully selected poems, and the time to write and share. The space you created enabled me to write something I'd been wanting to for some time.” Claire

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We are pleased to share our code of conduct following a brief consultation:

• Poetry Studio is a place of mutual learning and respect
• We ask all writers who attend to allow space for silence, reflection and thoughtful feedback
• The Studio is now an alcohol-free space

About Shazea Quraishi

Shazea is a Pakistani-born Canadian poet, translator and educator based in Brixton, South London. She has taught for over 20 years, with organisations including the Poetry School, Arvon, The Poetry Society, Translators in Schools, English PEN, Exiled Writers and more. She has designed and delivered poetry courses at undergraduate level and led poetry workshops in adult education, prisons, refugee centres, festivals, theatres and museums.

Her poems have appeared in UK and US publications including The Guardian, The Financial Times, Poetry Review, Modern Poetry in Translation & The Hudson Review, and anthologized in 'Poetry: A Writer's Guide and Anthology', 'Mapping the Future: The Complete Works Poets', ‘The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write’, and others. Books include The Glimmer (Bloodaxe Books, 2023) The Taxidermist (Verve Poetry Press, 2020), The Art of Scratching (Bloodaxe Books, 2015) and The Courtesans Reply (flipped eye publishing, 2012).

A Complete Works alumna, Shazea is a writer in residence with Living Words, an arts and literature organisation that works in creative partnership with marginalised people impacted by a dementia or ongoing mental health concerns.