How You Tell It: Spoken Word Poetry with Cormac Mac Gearailt
Info
Date: September 10, 2025
Time: 6.30pm - 8.30pm
Duration: 6 weeks
Level: Intermediate | Beginner |
Cost: €190 (€171 Members)
This course will take place in person on Wednesdays (six sessions in total).
Course Summary
Poetry is originally an oral art form, to be performed live in front of a captive audience. This course will focus on all aspects of the spoken word poem: how to come up with ideas, how to write and edit your work and, crucially, how to perform it live in front of an audience.
From the outset, the focus will be on writing, with participants encouraged to begin thinking about what kind of work they would like to create. Writing prompts and exercises will be given throughout, with gentle encouraging feedback given at each stage of the process.
There will also be a focus on form and rhythm, impactful imagery, and exploring what makes a poem great.
Course Outline
Week 1: Introduction to Spoken Word Poetry. History, the present day, and an outline of the course to come.
Week 2: Forms of Poetry. Exploring metrical poetry and how it relates to performance.
Week 3: Rhythm, cadence and imagery. How cadence, rhythm and strong, impactful imagery can greatly enhance your work.
Week 4: Plumbing the depths. How memory is used to generate ideas in poetry.
Week 5: Performance. How to speak your poem confidently and how to find your own voice.
Week 6: Showcase. A chance to share work, to reflect on what we have learned, and to focus on what comes next.
Course Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants should have a better sense of their own voice and how to write and deliver their work, as well as a deeper understanding of the art of spoken word poetry.
Each session will have some “homework” based in the lesson, and it is envisaged that participants will be well on their way to writing a strong, impactful spoken word poem by the end of the course.
Cormac Mac Gearailt is a multi-award-winning bilingual spoken word poet and creative writing teacher based in Dublin, Ireland. He is the current All-Ireland Poetry Slam Champion, and the UNESCO Cities of Literature Slamovision Champion (for an Irish language poem). Cormac also won the Leinster Slam Championship last year, the Rising Tide Comórtas Slam Filíochta Náisiúnta, the Féile Liú Lúnasa Slam in August 2023, and the Talkatives Slam in December 2022. He has performed at festivals across Ireland – including a solo show at Listowel Writers’ Week in 2024, and has staged four one-person unfinished shows.
Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.
