69 Best Poetry Writing Classes in 2026

An on-campus MFA taught at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus in North Miami, structured around small seminars and close mentoring. Coursework combines writing workshops with literature offerings and form and theory classes on plot, character and poetics. Intended as a terminal degree for writers who plan to teach, it culminates in a publishable book-length creative thesis.

A two-year on-campus MFA at Coral Gables in fiction or poetry, with an optional third year for professional development. Every admitted student receives a full tuition waiver and an annual stipend through a James Michener Fellowship or teaching assistantship, with second-year students teaching a creative writing section each semester. Electives extend into literature, screenwriting, interactive media and photography. The programme has a broad multilingual focus, supporting writers working across languages, dialects and linguistic modes. Students finish with a book-length thesis: around 150 pages for fiction, 50 for poetry.

A monthly evening workshop at The Hub @ Office Logic. Writers bring a work in progress and take it through live feedback, small-group breakout sessions and hands-on editing support, with a themed prompt set each month. All themes and forms welcome. Doors at 7pm, workshop 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Free to attend.

A free class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 28 November on poetry written to be heard rather than read - using body language, volume, sound and delivery as part of the composition. Includes watching and analysing spoken word performances. Note this is about writing for the voice, not performance coaching. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

A free poetry class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 2 December for writers who assume poetry means metre and rhyme. Covers the forms that do not, and what they let you do that traditional structures will not. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

A free, in-person monthly poetry workshop led by poet Charlene Stegman Moskal for the literary nonprofit Poetry Promise, held at West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd. It runs on the third Wednesday of the month, 6pm to 7.30pm in the Conference Room, with no booking - seating is first come, first served. Open to adults and seniors; the library notes sessions may include adult themes. Poetry Promise also runs readings, contests, awards and publishing locally, so the Hub is a way into a wider Las Vegas poetry community rather than a standalone class. Next dates 21 October, 18 November and 16 December.

An eight-week in-person foundation course at the StoryStudio Chicago Studio with Kathryn Kruse, $585, covering the elements common to fiction, non-fiction and poetry rather than specialising early. Starts 21 October. The genre-spanning approach makes it a sensible first course if you have not settled on a form yet, and eight weeks is long enough to build a habit rather than just sample one.

A single two-hour evening workshop with María Fernanda at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, $60 ($50 for members), on how poems work visually - line, shape, white space and the techniques poets use to make an image land. One session on Thursday 17 September, 6pm to 8pm, which makes it an easy first workshop if you have not taken one before.

Three Wednesday evening sessions with poet Karren Alenier at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, $150 ($135 for members), reading Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons closely and writing response poems from it. This is a workshop built on one difficult book rather than a general poetry survey, so it suits writers who already have a practice and want to be pushed by Stein's word play. Runs 16 to 30 September, 7pm to 8.30pm.

Weekly writing workshops that facilitate creative exploration in various genres, including literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Participants can attend the first session at no cost as a guest. The workshops use the Amherst Writers & Artists method to encourage artistic growth.

In-person poetry course in Cincinnati, $110, at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. Four Sunday evenings, 4 to 25 October 2026, 6:00-8:00pm, ages 18+. Worth knowing before you book: this class is Fair Share Pricing eligible, meaning CCAC lets you pay the rate that fits your circumstances rather than a fixed fee, and need-based scholarships of up to $100 are available on a short application each trimester.

Weekly work-in-progress group at Emmanuel Church on Barlow Moor Road in Didsbury, Tuesdays 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Your first session is free, after which it is GBP 2.50 to cover the room hire and a coffee halfway through. Each week around six members read out what they have been working on for the rest of the group to comment on and question, with a different six the following week. The stated focus is getting published, so a typical evening might cover characterisation and dialogue one week and how to get a literary agent's attention the next. Mostly novels in progress, with short stories, poetry, memoir, science fiction, horror, children's fiction and the occasional play script. Contact them before turning up - there is sometimes a waiting list.