Finding the Poem: A 4-Week Revision Journey

This course is currently full. The next run will be announced soon—join the list to hear first.

A practical revision course for poets

Four sessions on Zoom, 2 hours each  ·  Wednesdays, 12–2pm US ET (9-11am PT, 5-7pm UK).
August 5, 12, 19, and 26  ·  Limited to 12 participants

The first run of this course sold out within a week, so if you'd like a place, I'd encourage you not to wait too long!

Most poets find revision hard. Not because they lack talent, but because no one ever taught them how to do it.

You change a word here, cut a line there — and the poem still doesn't feel right. Or you stare at a draft that has something real in it and genuinely don't know where to start.

If that sounds familiar, this course is for you.

Over four weeks, we'll work through revision at four levels — from big structural questions right down to the final polish. At each level, I'll give you a short menu of practical exercises you can apply directly to your own drafts. You pick the one that feels most alive for the poem in front of you, and you write. The results are immediate: real new drafts, in the room, that you can see are better than what you came in with.

The goal isn't just to improve a few poems, though you will. It's to give you a toolkit you can use on every poem you write for the rest of your writing life — and to show you that revision, once you know how to do it, is one of the most satisfying parts of being a poet.

There's a reason the difference between a talented poet and a published one almost always comes down to revision. This course is about closing that gap.

What poets said about the first run:

• "I began this class to improve the revision of my own poetry. I ended this class realizing I the poet have been revised. My ideas and methods have been unfettered to fly as never before. Thank you, Brian!"

• "Lovely course and rare. I've seldom found courses about poetry revision, a needed skill. Clearly presented material and a discovery of the fun in revision. I'd take it again."

• "This course is crammed with brilliant tips to revise and polish your poems. The practice of revision becomes fun and not a chore."

• "An inspiring and well-structured course. The exercises had real practical value. I would highly recommend this course."

Here's what we'll cover, one level per session:

• Session 1 — Ideas and Approaches: Is this poem doing what you want it to do? What else could it be? Exercises for rethinking the poem from the ground up.

• Session 2 — Form and Structure: How is the poem shaped on the page, and what does that shape do to the reader? Tools for restructuring, reordering, and re-imagining.

• Session 3 — Images, Words, and Sounds: The level most poets go straight to — and it matters enormously. Exercises for sharpening language, finding better images, and listening to the sounds your poem makes.

• Session 4 — Polishing Up: The fine work of the final draft: what stays, what goes, what's almost right but not quite. How to know when a poem is finished.

Each session includes two extended writing periods for practical redrafting. There will also be time for questions, discussion, and brief ‘spotlight’ feedback on specific lines or breakthroughs from the exercises each session. Between sessions, there will be optional homework to keep the thinking going (please note: homework is for your own development and is not turned in for critique).

What to bring: 4-8 poem drafts that you feel have real promise but aren't happy with yet. These will be your raw material for the whole course.

Sessions will be recorded and shared with all participants, but as always you'll get the most from it by joining live.

‍ ‍This course is currently full. The next run will be announced soon—join the list to hear first.‍ ‍