Words on the Page: Poetry as a Prism with Colm Keegan

Course Summary

Five days of stand alone workshops delivered in sequence for cumulative effect. For anyone interested in developing their skillset through a deep dive into craft, exploring various poets, prompts and processes.

Course Outline

Monday – The Splash That Goes Unnoticed – Documentation as a way to poetic fluency.

Tuesday – Chart These Urban Hearts – A boots on the ground journey into the poetics of place.

Wednesday – Break The Constellations – Exploring form and the role that boundaries play.

Thursday – Navigating The Turn – The dark art of surprising yourself to surprise the reader.

Friday – Cracking The Voice – Sound and sense and breathing life into your lines.

Colm Keegan is a writer and poet from Dublin. His poetry collections ‘Don’t Go There’ and ‘Randomer’ (Salmon Poetry) have received critical acclaim and he recently created ‘Ireland Is’ (2023), and ‘Every Blooming Thing’ (2025), two spoken word roadshows which toured nationwide. He has edited Poetry Ireland Review and was the Waterford Poetry Prize Judge 2020-2025

His plays include ‘For Saoirse,’ and ‘Something Worth Saying,’ commissioned by the Abbey Theatre and described as “exquisite and devastating” by Emer O’Kelly. His recent play, written with LBS Men’s Shed, premiered at Dublin Fringe 2025 and won the Judges Choice Award for Socially Engaged Art.

He is an accomplished mentor and facilitator, having developed numerous creative writing projects, including the award-winning Writing Home initiative and Screenshot, a script development programme with National Talent Academies. He was a co-founder of Lingo, the spoken word festival and has held residencies at the LexIcon library, St Patrick’s College Carlow, and Maynooth University. He also coordinates Deadly Poets Society, a poetry project between Ireland and Australia.