Close Reading with Kirsten Luckins

For these close reading sessions, Kirsten will respond in real time to four or five poems sent in by you, narrating her journey as reader and offering insight into the mechanisms at play within the text. She will illuminate different ways in which your poetry could be received and perceived, showing which elements may need strengthening, questioning, or 'weirdfying'.

What to expect
7-8pm – Close reading
8-8.10 - Short break
8.20-8.30pm – General discussion

To submit a poem
We'll be opening up the submission window in the summer. We'll email all ticket holders with information on how to submit a poem for consideration closer to the time. Poems will be selected to ensure a range of styles are explored during the session. 

This event is exclusively for Women Poets' Network members, Not a member yet? Join here from just £15 per year. 

The session will be recorded – if you'd like to come along but can't make it on the day, please select a REPLAY ticket. 

Kirsten Luckins is a Teesside-based poet and performer whose creative practice embraces ekphrasis, eco-poetics, and experimentation generally. Her third collection Passerine (Bad Betty) was long-listed for the Laurel Prize for Eco-Poetry; her first pamphlet of dystopian sci-fi poetry, Offworld, has just been published by The Braag. She is director of the Tees Women Poets, a literature charity in Teesside, and has formerly been regional producer for Apples and Snakes, and national project manager for the Rebecca Swift Foundation's Women Poets' Network. A huge fan of the nuts and bolts of poetic craft, she runs occasional online courses in close reading called How to Enjoy Poetry and offers 1:1 mentoring and close reading on poems and pamphlets.

Kirsten Luckins (@imelda_says) • Instagram | Kirsten Luckins • Facebook

Feedback from our previous session:

“This was such an illuminating session - absolutely fascinating to witness someone else's process of reading poems and how they glean meaning. I very much enjoyed it and gained lots from it too.”

“Innovative session on critical feedback. More please.”

“Wonderful readings & respectful and clear feedback by Kirsten, a feeling of companionship and respect in the room.”

“Glad I zoomed in.”