The new Poetry By Heart website is live. Pop over there and you’ll see a new homepage and menus to help you find everything you need including how to download the 2023 competition kit straight to your desktop. Over the next few months other new features will go live too, including a Learn a Poem section for pupils; a Stories section for news and features about poetry out loud and by heart; plus extra content for teachers especially for GCSE anthology and unseen.

My new book Michael is now available for pre-order from Broken Sleep Books.

Huge thanks to Aaron Kent for editing and publishing this bonkers little tale!

You can read all about it and order your copy here: https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/mariah-whelan-michael

Well, I am officially back from maternity leave after having my daughter back in January.

I’ve got a number of classes coming up so thought I’d list them here for you.

History of the Sonnet, Nov-Dec 2022

For almost 800 years the sonnet has been a mainstay of English-language poetry. In this 6-week course, we’ll trace its development from its earliest incarnations in English to contemporary examples of this flexible and diverse poetic form.

This is a 6-week lecture and seminar course. Numbers are limited.

The classes are held once a week, live, on Wednesdays at 2.00 to 4.00 pm British Time, from 2 November to 7 December 2022.

For more info head here: https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk/sonnet

Sylvia Plath: Poetry and Prose, Feb-March 2023

Join writer and lecturer Dr Mariah Whelan for a live online exploration of the life and writing of Sylvia Plath.

What is the relationship between biography and poetics in Plath’s work? What do we mean when we describe Plath as a Confessional poet? How has this description been used to limit and contain Plath’s literary reputation? How important are other themes in Plath’s work such as death, the occult and nature? 

Four x 2-hour sessions, weekly, from 9 February to 2 March 2023. Live online via Zoom.

For more info head here: https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk/plath

Online Poetry Workshop, April-June 2023

Join award-winning poet Dr Mariah Whelan to discover the art and pleasure of writing poetry. Over the course of the six sessions, we will consider key aspects of poetry such as imagery, sound devices and fixed forms like the sonnet. Together, we will explore how to implement these technical considerations into our own poems, experimenting and receiving feedback as we go. 

Join us for six weekly sessions from 27 April to 2 March 2023 to learn the art of writing poetry. Live online via Zoom.

For more info head here: https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk/workshop-poetry

Writing Poetry for Beginners (in person), April-June 2023

Designed for those just starting out on their poetry-writing journey, this relaxed and fun class combines practical writing exercises, group discussion and close reading of poems by published poets to introduce students to the key elements of writing poetry.

A 10-week, in-person course delivered via the Department for Continuing Education, The University of Oxford.

For more details head here: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/writing-poetry-for-beginners?code=O22P522CRW

Delighted to let you all know that issue 8 of bath magg is now live!

In wonderful news the feature poet for the issue was the brilliant Seán Hewitt who I got to interview about all things poetry-related.

If you fancy a read, head over to https://www.bathmagg.com/issue8/

We will also have a launch for the issue on Tuesday 11th Jan at 7pm GMT. Tickets are free and you can get them here: https://www.bathmagg.com/events/

Well, it seems I’m having a bit of a run of positive poetry news at the moment. My poem ‘Iceland’ was commended in the Forest Poets annual poetry competition by the amazing, Forward-shortlisted Joelle Taylor.

My pamphlet with Dancing Girl Press, the rafters were still burning, is now available to purchase via their website.

Kristy from DGP has done such an amazing job with this little publication and I’m really proud of the poems I wrote for the collection.

Lush to have been shortlisted for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award this year. My poem ‘The Tuna Auction’ was originally published in Anthropocene magazine earlier this month. Fingers crossed for all the shortlistees!

Chuffed to have come 4th in the Streetcake Prize for Experimental Writing. I felt a bit of an interloper at the prize-giving. I’m not sure my poem really is that experimental compared to all the wonderfully inventive pieces by other poets and prose-writers. Nonetheless it was lovely to be selected as a runner-up and huge shout out to Trinni and Nikki who run the prize! What a brilliant thing they’re doing 🙂

You can buy your copy of the anthology here.

On Monday 8th November, 7.30pm via Zoom, Homerton will be hosting Seán Hewitt for a poetry reading and Q&A. The event is open to all, email me via the address on the poster to join.