Welcome!

Poetry is perhaps the concentrated of the literary genres, combining narrative, heightened emotion, and image in a tight structure. Many of us learned in school to fear poetry-- this course breaks down its mystery into elements we can all learn and play with. 

I like to think of poems as the coming together of three artistic toolkits -- that of language, that of music, and that of the visual arts. Over six sessions, we read and write together, playing with each of these elements, and allowing them to surprise us. While poets will of course benefit from this instruction, prose writers too can gain from a deeper understanding of rhythm, image, metaphor and other poetic elements. 

The course will work well for beginning and intermediate writers alike. The Basic version of this course gives you access to all instruction videos, readings, and prompts for 100 days. If you would like to do this course alongside a community, and get individual feedback on some of your work, please consider the Plus Version instead.  

Curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome Aboard

    • Course Introduction
  • 2

    The Craft of Poetry

    • Elements of Poetry

      FREE PREVIEW

    • Making it Concrete

    • Writing from the Five Senses

    • Thinking in Metaphor

    • Rhythm and Music

    • Lines and Stanzas: The Visual Toolkit

    • Bonus: Playing with Form-- the Ghazal
  • 3

    Review

    • Congratulations, you're done!

Register Now!

Sign up here for 100 days of access to all course materials, including instruction videos, readings, and writing prompts-- including a bonus lesson!

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Testimonials

Writing in Supportive Environs

by Urvashi Bahuguna, author of Terrarium (The Great Indian Poetry Collective, 2018) and No Straight Thing Was Ever Made (Penguin, 2020)

Aditi Rao’s weekly writing workshop changed my relationship with writing. Writing with her established for me something I hadn’t realised held true for me: I thrive in homes rather than classrooms, in community rather in isolation, in supportive environs rather than competitive ones. The smell of milky coffee and brownies still brings back memories of those afternoons where I first learned how important it is to have a community of writers.”

The Courage to Use My Own Voice

Kuhu Joshi, Poet and Researcher

Aditi’s workshops gave me the most essential ingredient to write with: the courage to use my own voice. I found self-belief in a community where everyone felt safe, heard and seen. And the teaching of craft was blended in so brilliantly, sometimes I would look down at my notebook and think, oh, I just used all these metaphors, oh, I just created this quirky character! It really changed my life. I’ve grown braver, kinder and more attentive, my poems are getting published, I was long listed for the TOTO award, and I just began the MFA program in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence College in New York: all things I didn’t imagine were possible for me a year ago when I had completely lost my self-esteem and identity