From the Old Testament to Shakespeare, to Lewis Carol and Kafka, insects have long held a prominent place in some of our most well-known literary works.

Poets, in particular, seem to have a special fascination with the insect world. . Some of the finest poets have used insects to depict themes of troubled relationships, the unconscious mind, raw passion, the grotesque, death, and the idea of the other.

In this Masterclass, we’ll explore how poets draw on the world of insects to amplify these themes. Using examples of both free verse as well as metrical poems, we’ll investigate the depiction of insects in work of Fiona Benson, Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Hamilton Adair, Yusef Komunyakaa, Alice Oswald, and others. This class will also pay special attention to effective use of line breaks and generating sound in poems.

Masterclasses are an expanded version of our International Courses, with a much deeper consideration of technical craft and critical theory. There are no live chats and they are suitable for UK and International students.

Jodie Hollander’s work has appeared in journals such as The Poetry Review, The Yale Review, The Harvard Review, PN Review, The Kenyon Review, Poetry London, The Hudson Review, The Dark Horse, The New Criterion, The Rialto, Verse Daily, The Best Australian Poems of 2011, and The Best Australian Poems of 2015. Her debut full-length collection, My Dark Horses, was published with Liverpool University Press & Oxford University Press. Her second collection, Nocturne, was published with Liverpool & Oxford University Press in 2023 and was longlisted for the Laurel Prize in nature writing. Hollander is the recipient of a MacDowell fellowship and a Fulbright fellowship in South Africa. She is also the originator of ‘Poetry in the Parks,’ in conjunction with several National Parks and Monuments in the US. She currently lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Dates: 9 January - 2 April 2024
Location: Online
Cost: £200

Further info and to book here