An online course beginning January 23rd 2021, running for seven weeks. £200.
All information & booking at www.poembrut.com/courses

The character of European literature remains a hotbed of innovation – a constant remaking of what we know poetry to be. This ambitious course seeks to introduce the English-language poet, or anyone captivated by a wide understanding of what poetry is, to the European tradition in all its richness.

Over the course of seven weeks, we will trace a line from the aftershocks of modernism, to the arrival symbolism, futurism, surrealism, and more. We explore the constraints that emancipate in the OULIPO movement, the collaborative asemic poetry of the CoBrA group, the onset of conceptual poetry, the birth of Concrete Poetry, the emergence of Sound poetry, leading to the current movement of Performance Literature. We explore electronic poetry and digital literature, and vitally, we present what is happening now – with contemporary poets working in the 21st century.

We will also dip into the ‘grand’ post and pre-war literary poets across the continent, focusing in on their technique to inspire new works. From Mayakovsky to Akhmatova, Brodsky to Dragomoshchenko, Celan to Sachs, Brecht, Miłosz, Herbert, Szymborska to Różewicz, Ritsos to Elytis to Seferis, Popa to Jozsef, Salamun, Isou to Queneau, Cendrars, Pessoa. Ekelöf, Handke, Saariskoski.

Alongside the dozens and dozens of contemporary poets, EUROPOE will situate the anglophone poet with roads into an often occluded European tradition that will hopefully last long into the future... When the course finishes, an event and publication will consolidate that which everyone has produced. All info www.poembrut.com/courses

Remote or online courses aren’t necessarily suited to that which motivates me to teach. I’ve approached pedagogy in a way that the dialogue of exchanging information when leading a program isn’t a pretence. I have collaborated with students, learn from them every lesson, and this is the main reason for me to share knowledge I’ve accrued but naturally, already know. I’m maybe too reliant on that face to face, improvised style of teaching. So it’s taken me a few years to improve at leading courses online. The current course I’m working on with the Poetry School and about 20 quite brilliant poet-artists around the world, including folk from Australia, America and elsewhere, is the best experience I’ve had so far without immediate conversations. It’s likely due to the people who signed up, who are unusually talented and generous, and a maturation on my part, most especially in not overloading the source material and prompts. I would upload 100 pages in the past for one exercise, somehow I thought I needed to give participants their money’s worth. It takes time to learn it’s not just about that perhaps. Here are some works by poets who are on the course, really impressive asemic, handwritten, concrete poems and this is the true value of an online course - it allows access to people globally and you somehow then get poet-artists who are remarkably advanced in their work, seeking knowledge and insights, rather than fundamental approaches. Some of the work coming in is better than anything I’ve done, some professional standard work, and yet the exchanges in the group are supportive, and humble. https://poetryschool.com/groups/the-language-art-modern-art-poetry

Lynne Cameron https://www.lynnecameron.com/