Craft A Poetry Chapbook
In this series of six online workshops, we’re going to read some gorgeous poetry chapbooks and learn how to assemble them. Week by week, we’ll experiment with imagery, cadence, form, rhyme, free verse, space on the page and prose poetry, considering how poems resonate and connect. This course takes place over six sessions on Zoom on Thursday evenings. By the end, you’ll have completed a chapbook which will automatically be in the running for publication by Inkfish Press. Each workshop session will consist of in-class exercises, periods of discussion and analysis, and time for sharing the work we’re writing. Simple homework assignments along the way will help you develop your chapbook.
During this course, you will learn how to:
- Embrace different approaches to composition.
- Grow confident writing in a range of forms.
- Draw from the poetry you love in your writing.
- Structure a compelling poetry chapbook.
- Make your work tight and taut by editing.
What Makes a Good Chapbook?
Thurs 2 October 2025, 6-8pm BST
- What makes a good chapbook?
- Different themes, structures and approaches.
- Finding narratives and resonances.
Exploring Different Forms
Thurs 9 October 2025, 6-8pm BST
- Read poems in a range of verse forms.
- Redraft free verse to sonnet to prose poem.
- Whose book is this? Find the voice of your poems.
How Do Poems Connect?
Thurs 16 October 2025, 6-8pm BST
- How do poems in published chapbooks connect?
- Using verbal and thematic repetition to structure.
- Locating connecting narrative strands.
Stepping Stones and Resonances
Thurs 23 October 2025, 6-8pm BST
- Finding the resonances between your poems.
- Creating ‘stepping stones’ through imagery.
- Building a series or sequence.
Space on the Page
Thurs 30 October 2025, 6-8pm GMT
- Use space on the page with each poem.
- Use the space between poems to create subtext.
- Using negative space visually and imaginatively.
Polishing your Chapbook
Thurs 6 November 2025, 6-8pm GMT
- How to choose the best poems for your chapbook.
- What to look for when editing your poems.
- Questions for current and future projects.
Kate Horsley has a BA from Oxford and a PhD From Harvard University and has lectured at Harvard, Lancaster, Chester and Hull universities. Her first novel, The Monster’s Wife, was shortlisted for the Scottish First Book of the Year Award. A subsequent novel, The American Girl, was published by William Morrow (US) and Harper Collins (UK) and translated into Korean by Tomato Publishing – both books have been optioned for film and television.