Hannah Copley Workshop - A single thought, shattered

There is a wonderful greediness to a poetic sequence. It refuses the idea of a poem as a contained beam and instead refracts and fragments into white space and onto the next page. In this workshop we'll explore how poetic sequences can allow us to embody a single idea, life or history in fragments. We'll also consider how a sequence enables us to embrace complexity, messiness and conflict, and can provide a powerful space for lyrical interrogation and protest. Drawing on writers such as Anne Carson, Fady Joudah, Jason Allen-Paisant, Carrie Etter, Maggie Nelson and Luke Kennard for inspiration, we'll try out different strategies and approaches to starting and developing a sequence and will think about how best to first shatter and then reassemble a concept into a collection of beautiful pieces.

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Hannah Copley is a poet and senior lecturer in Creative and Professional Writing at the University of Westminster. She is the author of two poetry collections: Speculum (2021) and Lapwing (2024), with Lapwing being a Poetry Book Society Summer 2024 Recommendation and nominated for the 2024 T.S. Eliot Prize. Copley also serves as a poetry editor at Stand magazine and engages with themes of history and activism in her work.

It is wonderful having Hannah along for the first time on our zoom workshop series.