69 Best Poetry Writing Classes in 2026

One hour of prompted writing led by poet Rachael Hill, on the last Wednesday of the month in Manchester's Northern Quarter, GBP 5. It runs immediately before The Space Poetic's open mic, so you can read what you have just written on stage afterwards or simply leave - there is no pressure either way. Hill brings poems she loves plus prompts, and you are equally welcome to bring a project already underway. Up to 40 people; dates run 30 September, 28 October and 25 November.

Monthly morning group at Withington Library, last Friday of the month at 10.30am, GBP 1 a session. Each meeting takes a theme - the group's example is 'write about what you know' - discusses it, then members read out work they have brought. Members are working on short stories, poetry and novels, and the group says it welcomes life writing, children's writing and articles too. Two things to know before booking: it runs through U3A, so you need to be a member, and U3A is aimed at people no longer in full-time work.

Free weekly workshop in Room 3.09 above the Manchester Poetry Library, Wednesdays 6.30pm to 8.30pm, run by Cultureword, which has been developing Black and Asian writers in Manchester and the north for over three decades. Open to Global Majority writers - African, Caribbean, South, Southeast and East Asian, Middle Eastern diaspora and Indigenous communities. These are proper critique sessions rather than drop-in writing time: you bring your own poem, story, novel extract or memoir, and there is a stated expectation that you both give and receive constructive feedback and return with revised work. Spoken word poetry and short fiction are the group's strongest suits. Join by emailing admin@cultureword.org.uk.

Three-hour Saturday afternoon class at the Munday Library on the St Edward's University campus in south Austin, 1pm to 4pm, $135 for non-members and $75 for Writers' League of Texas members. Taught by Bianca Alyssa Perez, winner of Hub City Press's 2026 Deep Line Poetry Prize. It uses the serpent as a working metaphor for memory and renewal, with generative prompts drawing on family history, cultural memory and fragmented or multilingual language - aimed at poets who want to move past autobiography. The class is explicitly not recorded and not made available online. Five scholarship seats are free of charge, two of them reserved for St Edward's students. Parking on site costs $6 a day, and registration closes at 5pm on 18 September.

One-day Saturday poetry course, 10.30am to 5pm, GBP 139. Unlike City Academy's other writing courses it runs at Photoion Studio in Waterloo rather than their Farringdon studios. Taught by City Academy's writing tutors rather than a single named instructor, and capped as a one-day intensive so you leave with drafted work rather than notes.

One-day in-person poetry workshop on Saturday 24 October, 10am to 4pm, with Rico Craig. Runs at Writing NSW's home in Callan Park, Balmain Rd, Lilyfield. $225 AUD non-members, $170 AUD members, $145 AUD concession. The premise is writing the ordinary at the intensity of myth: techniques for finding poetic material in everyday life, alongside an introduction to recent poetry working in that mode. A full day on a single idea rather than a survey course.

Eight-week poetry workshop at the QWF office in Westmount, Montreal, Thursdays 5.45-7.45pm from 8 October to 26 November, led by Kelly Norah Drukker. Built around memory, place and sensory detail as generative sources rather than around fixed forms. Capped at 12 participants, in-person by default with two virtual seats available only by prior arrangement with QWF. The autumn intake is full and a waitlist is open; the fee is shown again once places are released.

Thirty-hour evening course on Dawson College's downtown Montreal campus, Tuesdays 6-9pm from 6 October to 8 December. Fee $250 CAD plus tax - by some distance the cheapest structured creative writing course in the city. No prerequisite, class capped at 20, and the teacher is listed as TBA. It moves across short fiction and poetry with peer critique as the core method: every participant must submit at least one story or two to three poems for the group to workshop. Registration closes 1 October.

Full-day in-person beginners' workshop in Toronto, Sunday 27 September, 10am to 4.30pm, led by Firefly's Kim. Fee $250 CAD plus tax, payable in four monthly instalments of $62.50 at no extra cost. It runs at an historic lawn bowling club on the edge of Riverdale Park rather than a classroom - short warm-up exercises in the morning, longer writes in the afternoon, across autobiography, lists and poetry. Deposits are non-refundable and the full fee is non-refundable a week out, so book only once you are sure of the date.

One-day poetry course at Faber's Hatton Garden offices, 10am to 4pm, GBP 75 - the cheapest single-day course Faber runs. Led by poet Richard Scott. You get direct feedback on your own poems during the day, alongside sessions on finding material and on reading as a poet reads. Places on individual dates are limited and some show only a couple remaining, so check stock before planning around a particular Saturday.

Single Saturday-morning poetry workshop at The Porch House in Nashville with instructor Melissa Jean, $63 ($54 for members). The session reads Mary Oliver, John Keats and Jane Hirshfield for the techniques poets use to render seasonal detail, then moves into generative exercises built on sense memory. In-class writing load is light and there is no homework - a good fit if you want a poetry session that fits in a single morning.

In-person course in Minneapolis, $296 ($266.40 for Loft Friends), taught by Chelsea DesAutels. Eight Wednesday evenings, 16 September to 4 November 2026, 6:00-8:00pm at The Loft Literary Center. Pitched past beginner level - assumes you already write poems and want to push the craft rather than start from scratch. The longest in-person course The Loft is running this term.