The Global Online Stanza is run in association with the UK Poetry Society. You do not have to be a Poetry Society member to join.
For more information, or to join the group, contact Gwyneth on globalonlinestanza@gmail.com
Basic tenets & expectations for meetings
❖You don’t need to write something new for each session.
❖You don’t need to bring a poem to each session.
❖You can come to listen and learn, but we’d still like to hear your voice occasionally!
✤If you want to suggest a challenge, a prompt, a published poem for discussion, news of a competition, questions about forms, techniques etc., these are all welcome.
✤Work and commentary shared in the GOS sessions is confidential and should not be reproduced without permission.
In workshop sessions, there may not be enough time to look at everyone’s work. If you miss out during one session, we’ll try and make sure you get priority in the next.
If you bring a piece to be workshopped, it makes sense for it to be a piece you are willing to improve. You may think it is “finished” - i.e. as good as you can make it - but you should be willing to listen to comments and consider diverse ideas and critique.
Occasionally, you may want to showcase a piece that’s been published, awarded a prize etc. That’s fine, too. But if you don’t want comments and suggestions, please make that clear.
For more information, or to join the group, contact Gwyneth on globalonlinestanza@gmail.com
Some thoughts on peer critique
YYou don’t need to be the best poet in the room to have – and give – an opinion. Actually, you don’t even need to be a writer: feedback from readers is also useful.
WWe are all at different stages of our writing journey. We have different styles and expertise and our preferences, aims and ambitions aren’t necessarily the same as other people’s. Our opinions are still valid, even if they stem from different values and expectations.
YYou can learn as much from close reading and commenting on someone else’s poem as you will from getting feedback on your own work.
CComments and critique are not the same as correcting or editing other people’s poems. As critters, we provide opinions and feedback on what does and doesn’t work for us. We have no rights to demand anything of the poet whose work we are critiquing.
TThe poet whose work is under discussion is under no obligation to act on any feedback they get. They should, however, recognise the time and thought that goes into giving feedback and the spirit in which the comments are made.
OOften feedback can lead you to reconsider the choices you have made. This questioning of your choices may make you change your mind and edit your poem. It may also help you be more certain that you were right all along.
For further notes on critique, read “Critiquing Poetry” by Gwyneth Box.
