The Paintings in W. H. Auden’s ‘Musée des Beaux Arts’
In this article, Professor Hugh Haughton traces the paintings present in W. H. Auden’s poem, ‘Musée des Beaux Arts’. Perhaps the most iconic of modern poems about iconic pictures is …
Course: Poetry: How to Read a Poem
Thin Ice Press
In this video, Dr JT Welsch discusses ‘Thin Ice Press’. Thin Ice Press is the newly-built in-house printing studio in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University …
Exploring a poem and its images – intermediality
In this article, Dr Alexandra Kingston-Reese explores the paintings found within Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric (2014). One of the most exciting instances of a contemporary poet engaging with …
What is ekphrasis?
In this video, Dr Alexandra Kingston-Reese introduces the literary term ‘ekphrasis’, explaining what it is and how it is used. Now that you know what ekphrasis is, can you think …
Why is it important to read poetry in translation?
In this article, Dr Nicoletta Asciuto discuses the importance of reading poetry in translation. In my video on ‘Translating Poetry’, I ended by saying that translation work makes us better …
Thinking about metre
Metre is the term we use to describe the pattern of syllables and stresses in a line. It gives us a vocabulary for talking about, and recognising, how poetry relates …
Translating poetry
In this video, Dr Nicoletta Asciuto details the process of translating poetry: the difficulties, the joys, and what it means to her. Translation has an interesting relationship to intertextuality. Here, …
Favourite poetic conversations – (II)
In this article, Professor Hugh Haughton details the poetic conversations between the contemporary Canadian poet, Anne Carson, and the Roman poet, Catullus. The early twentieth-century American poet Robert Frost said …
Introducing the creative exercise
In this video, Vahni Capildeo introduces our closing creative exercise, encouraging you to write freely and to try your hand at writing poetry. What did it feel like to undertake …
Poetic Conversations Between Keats and Carson
In this article, Professor Gillian Russell explores the poetic conversations between the 19th century poet, John Keats, and the late 20th century poet Ciaran Carson. You may like to read …
Creative exercises
In this article, Vahni Capildeo encourages us to go deeper into the process of creative writing. Deepening the exercise The main thing is to set aside dedicated time. There’s nothing …
As a poet – how do you think about metre?
In this video, poets Vahni Capildeo and Penny Boxall explore how they think about metre in their poetry. Over to you Consider these prompting questions and let us know what …
If you’ve enjoyed this week…
In this article, Dr JT Welsch provides some further ideas for approaching the themes we have explored in week one of our course, ‘How to Read a Poem’. This week, …
Writers on poetry – a case study (ii)
In this article, Dr Shazia Jagot explores the literary criticism written by poet Vahni Capildeo. Can poetry offend? What consequences might this have for the poet? These are questions that …
Case Study: Poet Writers
In this article, Professor Hugh Haughton explores the poetic criticism of Maureen N. McLane. People rightly contrast the excitement poems give with actual poetry criticism. Nonetheless, I have often been …
