Poetry School is a national arts organisation, registered charity and adult education centre providing creative writing tuition, with teaching centres throughout England as well as online courses and downloadable activities. It was founded in 1997 by poets Mimi Khalvati, Jane Duran and Pascale Petit. Poetry School offers an accredited Master's degree in Writing Poetry, delivered in both London and Newcastle, in collaboration with Newcastle University. Online courses are delivered via CAMPUS, a social network dedicated to poetry. In 2018 the Poetry School moved to new premises at Dock Offices, Canada Water, London, from their previous offices on Lambeth Walk. The Poetry School's annual Books of the Year list is released in December, and celebrates noteworthy books and pamphlets of poetry published during the year. Poetry School works with a number of partner organisations to deliver a range of projects, including the Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry, the Primers mentorship scheme, and, from 2018, a new poetry award and mentorship programme, The Women Poets' Prize, in memory of The Literary Consultancy co-founder Rebecca Swift. The WomenPoets' Prize offers three female-identifying poets a programme of support and creative professional development opportunities in collaboration with seven partner organisations, including, in addition to Poetry School, Faber and Faber, Bath Spa University, The Literary Consultancy, RADA, City Lit and Verve Festival.
Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry
Poetry School runs the Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry, a major international award for poems embracing ecological themes, with a first prize of £5,000. The Resurgence Prize was founded in 2014 by poet Andrew Motion and actress and activist Joanna Lumley. The Ginkgo Prize was established in 2018 with funding from the Edward Goldsmith Foundation to commemorate the poet Teddy Goldsmith on the 25th annniversary of the publication of his book The Way.
In November 2019poet laureateSimon Armitage announced that he would donate his salary as poet laureate to create a new prize for a collection of poems "with nature and the environment at their heart". The prize is to be run by the Poetry School. The first award is to be announced on 23 May 2020 at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the judges being Armitage, Robert Macfarlane, and Moniza Alzi. Armitage has said that the prize should "be part of the discourse and awareness about our current environmental predicament".
Primers
Primers is an annual mentoring and publication scheme organised by Poetry School and Nine Arches Press. It provides a unique opportunity for talented poets to find publication and receive a programme of supportive feedback, mentoring and promotion.
