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Online Poetry Circles

8 Weeks of Dynamic Deadlines

Motivation to get multiple poems written & edited bringing you closer to your publication dreams.

Personalised Feedback

Receive constructive criticism on your poems from multiple writers and the tutor.

Access to micro-classes

Go deeper and enhance your skills with the on- demand tutor facilitated micro-classes.

Supportive Community

Join a welcoming group of poets who share work and celebrate each other's achievements.

Poetry Circles designed to improve & empower your writing

 

 +  Each Monday upload up to 60 lines of poetry that you would like feedback on.

+  You will automatically be assigned three other poets to provide feedback to. This feedback will be required by the next Monday. (A micro-class on how to provide valuable feedback will be included. Beginners welcome)

+  At the end of the week you will upload another 60 lines, and receive feedback from the tutor and three other participants.

+  This practice continues throughout the term.

BONUS: Each week the tutor will upload a micro-class teaching key editing techniques to further improve your work. Topics will be based on what the tutor thinks will benefit the group the most but might include topics such as improving the use of imagery, expanding on symbolism or line endings.

Online Poetry Critique Circles

What is a poetry circle?

 

A poetry circle is a gathering of people who write poetry.

It's a safe space to share our drafts and receive feedback to improve the work. This is useful if you wish to send the work out for publication, but also for your growth as a writer - writing for the joy of writing. It is suitable for beginners and emerging writers.

Why online?

A virtual writing group means access to a wider range of people at a time that suits everyone. Not everyone can make face-to-face poetry workshops. For many people, it’s hard to find a community of like-minded creatives. If you add that to caring responsibilities, employment responsibilities, the cost of travel to larger cities that provide this service and the need to be available at the same time each week then feedback sessions can become difficult. With this model, you can upload your work and provide online poetry feedback to others at a time that suits you.

We will be using an online portal designed specifically for writers.

No messy sharing of emails and chasing others for their feedback. After enrollment, you can log in and create a profile. This is a great chance to share with the group where you at in your poetry writing journey and the type of feedback you would like. 

Upload your poetry each week.

As a group, we will see all participants' work, but will only be allocated three people’s work to provide feedback. At the conclusion of the term, each participant will be provided with a file with all of their work, and the other participant's feedback. 

Training will be provided on how to use this portal and the tutor will be available to help you as well. It’s actually quite a simple tool - designed specifically for writers.

8 Weeks

8 weeks of feedback on YOUR poetry.

Micro-classes

8 micro-classes on editing poetry.

480 Lines of Poetry

Submit up to 480 lines of poetry.

And by the end? 

Fresh, edited poems for your kitbag.

Key Dates

Entries uploaded and feedback provided by midnight Monday (wherever you live). Busy on Monday? Do it Sunday, or Saturday, or any time that suits before midnight Monday.

It’s hard to keep track of various timezones so please make sure that you have your feedback provided and new poems uploaded by ‘Midnight Monday’ wherever you live in the world. Not only is it great alliteration, it’s just easy to remember.

 
 
The circle is closed while current participants share their work.

 

Please sign up to the newsletter to hear when we open again later in the year.

 

Or click the button below to be contacted directly when we open.

Let me know

Benefits of writing circles

 

Learn by doing - Writing circles are beneficial for students who want to actively learn something new. By writing and submitting your work regularly you are learning something new and progressing your goals simultaneously.

Improve YOUR work - Look, I love Wordsworth, but I’ve got to say I write nothing like him. Which means sitting in a class that focuses on the work of great poets, while interesting, only ever intimidated me. As a tutor, I prefer to have students expand their own work while learning about new techniques. Poetry circles are ideal for this.

Get published faster - Imagine finishing the course with 10 new poems, written, reviewed and edited. This course is designed to get you to your goals, whether that’s publication in journals or creating your manuscript, faster.

 By telling others, you tell yourself - I’ve seen this happen first-hand. When you give another participant advice, for example, ‘I think these two images conflict with each other’, you become aware of that issue. When you return to your own work, you consciously begin to notice if you have made the same mistake. You improve your work by providing feedback to others. 

Expand your voice and style - by reading a range of different poets at a range of different levels in their writing journey, you naturally begin to understand your preferences as a writer. For example, if you read and enjoy a pastoral poem in the circle, you might try that style for yourself. If you read a poem with a differing political ideal to yours, you might be inclined to write a poem as a response to the emotions that arose for you. 

 Dynamic deadlines and regular practice - having a regular deadline that you’ve paid money for is one of the best ways to get your bum on a chair and get working. It’s a great feeling knowing that if you submit work each week, you’ll have an impressive kitbag of poems ready to share with the world.

A virtual writing community - A poetry support group, if you like. Having an online poetry community to ask questions and share challenges is invaluable. Perhaps you’d like to ask about experiences in self-publishing or submitting to journals. Perhaps you’d like to ask about writer’s block or writing challenges. We will have a chat function available and Melissa will be active in there, sharing tips and advice as necessary.

Become confident & empowered - Melissa’s personal goal in every class she teaches is to have participants leave feeling confident and empowered. Feedback will be directed in a supportive manner to improve the poem, not discourage the writer. Melissa will teach how to accept feedback as well as provide it.

Key Dates

 

We are currently working with existing students. Join our mailing list to register interest and find out when we are open for enrolments.

Find out when we launch

Join the list to find out when we commence enrolment.

Melissa Watts on Poetry Circles

I’ve participated in many poetry circles over the years, both face-to-face and online. I’ve seen the tangible improvements in my own writing routine, the quality of my work and my confidence to send work out into the world.

 In addition to all the points above, I'd love to share a story with you. I used online writing circles prior to publishing my poetry collection Small Towns. 

In one of the rounds I shared a poem called Waiting. It was about a group of young people waiting in the mist for the approaching school bus. But the poem also played on the idea of waiting to grow up and leave the small town behind.

In my mind, this poem was crystal clear, I had reworked the draft several times and thought I had an amazing poem on my hands. I expected a few minor suggestions.

I received feedback from a tutor and three participants within the class. 

Participant One told me that they could see very clearly the group of young people on a Rugby field, waiting for the ball. Crazy, I thought, this person had obviously misinterpreted my work. I opened the next lot of feedback and received the same thing. As it turns out all four readers assumed that I had written about a group of young men, waiting in the fog for their weekend sport to begin. They said they could see it so clearly!

 Obviously, my draft wasn’t as great as I thought, it wasn’t even ‘artily ambiguous’ - it was not working. So I reworked it, workshopped it again. Eventually the poem made it into my collection. But without sharing it (twice) with other poets I would have missed my chance to improve it. 

 Besides the invaluable feedback that I have received over the years I also really enjoy having a deadline. 

The benefit of the deadline is what got my manuscript completed and eventually published.

I’ll admit, there were some weeks when I drafted something in the 20 minutes before the work was due, just so I didn’t waste the money I had paid. It turns out that those poems also made it into my collection, I just happened to have workshopped them sooner than I usually would have, which actually saved me time in the end.

 

Fabulous

I loved the Poetry Circle so much - it was wonderful being immersed in this kind and thoughtful virtual community, and I am so grateful for the feedback I received and the awesome poetry I got to read as well. Melissa is a fabulous mentor and guide! (Tegan)

Supportive & Nurturing

This poetry circle pushed me to write and refine my work in a very supportive and nurturing environment. I learnt a lot about my creative process and it was very helpful to have weekly ‘deadlines’ for submission, otherwise I would have kept writing half finished poems! I received really useful feedback from my peers and I found that giving them feedback in return was a useful skill to develop since it helped me articulate what worked in a poem and what could be improved. I’m looking forward to being part of this again! (Mia, Australia)

Did not want it to end

I have loved being part of this poetry circle and just did not want it to end. The experience has been overwhelmingly positive and has improved both my craft and my confidence as a Poet (Ruth, UK)

My own style, my own voice

'Whenever Melissa talks about poetry, it is like she has found her calling, and I feel like it might be mine too. Working with her on my poems has taught me that I can use my own styles, my own voice. Thank you, Melissa.'