Poetry for the Curious with Mark Granier

Course Summary

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of rhyme is, and why many poets still use it (and many others don’t); or what makes unrhymed poetry different from prose, or why line-breaks are important (except when they’re not)? If you’re a curious beginner who has begun to write poetry, or simply someone who enjoys reading and talking about poetry, and would like to broaden the conversation, this course is for you.

Course Outline

This course will encourage questions and ideas, and invite you to immerse yourselves in a conversation about poetry during eight, two-hour sessions.

Apart from triggering exercises and writing prompts, you will look at a number of poems by published poets that provide examples and templates.

Topics covered will include imagery, metaphor and the prose poem. You will also look at some of the oldest poetic devices that are still in use –– riddles, anaphora and parallelism for example –– and forms such as the sonnet and haiku.

In the final session, participants will be given advice on publishing, and a list of brilliant anthologies and books about poetry. But it should be noted that the emphasis will be on having an adventure with language (in other words pleasure, delight, or simply fun).

Mark Granier has an MA in Poetry from Lancaster University, and has taught poetry and creative writing at The Irish Writers’ Centre and UCD for many years. Some of his former students have had work broadcast on RTE and been published by major Irish poetry presses. Granier’s awards include two Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowships, The Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize and several Arts Council Bursaries. His sixth collection, Everything You Always Wanted To Know, was launched by Niall MacMonagle and published by Salmon Poetry in April 2025.

Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.