Get it together!

a workshop on making a poetry pamphlet

Pamphlets play a vital role in the contemporary poetry ecosystem – announcing the arrival of new and powerful voices on the scene and allowing more established writers to experiment and develop a small, focused body of work clustered around a specific theme. Historically a medium used by politicians and philosophical thinkers who have a strong message and something to say, pamphlets show no sign of diminishing power as a form that is perfect for reading in one sitting. There’s a lot to be said for being brief.

A poetry pamphlet is usually a small collection of around 15 to 30 poems, that circle around a theme (though not always – there are plenty of exceptions to the rule)! It is your opportunity to make readers and publishers aware of your work, quite possibly for the very first time, and to begin to build a presence in the poetry community.

But how do you put a pamphlet together? Which poems should you choose? What order should you put them in? Which should go first and last? What about the title? Which publishers could you send it to? In this day-long workshop we’ll answer these questions, consider some highly successful examples of pamphlets by published poets and by the end of the day you should have a draft pamphlet pretty much ready to go.

You will ideally already have at least 20 poems which you will print out and bring along with you. Alternatively, you are welcome to come along if you’re at the stage of thinking that putting together a pamphlet for publication could be for you but do bring sample poems of your own along.

Tutors: JLM Morton & Alun Hughes

Venue: Stroud Library, Five Valleys Shopping Centre, King St, Stroud GL5 1RR (this venue is fully accessible)

Date / time: Friday 7th February, 10am - 3.30pn