So, the 2022/2023 academic year has come to an end. I returned from maternity leave late last year and since then I’ve taught classes on the sonnet, Sylvia Plath, Keats, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning plus two extended series on writing poetry. That’s a lot! I’m looking forward to taking some time over the summer to focus on catching up with my reading and maybe even writing some poems of my own.

I’ll still be doing some teaching this summer though, and you can see a list below. I am also currently expanding my list of poets I work with on a one-to-one basis. If you want some personalised feedback on your poems or are putting together a pamphlet or collection get in touch via whelan.mariah [at] gmail.com.

Upcoming courses:

15th July 2023 – Writing Poetry: Experiments in Chance and Choice, City Lit (online)

Explore interesting, off-beat and diverse approaches to generating verse on this one-day course. Try out cut-ups, found lines, experiments in meter and rhyme, and much more.

13th and 20th August 2023 – Reading Poetry: Christina Rossetti, Literature Cambridge (online)

Join award-winning poet Dr Mariah Whelan as we explore the playful, passionate, sensuous, and sacred poetry of Christina Rossetti.

Together we will explore several key poems written over the course of Rossetti’s life. Using a number of close reading techniques, Dr Whelan will guide participants to read, analyse and discuss the poetic methods and techniques that have made Rossetti’s poems so much loved for 150 years and more.

5th and 12th November 2023 – Reading Poetry: Irish Poetry, Literature Cambridge (online)

Few territories can claim to have produced so many excellent poets and poems as the island of Ireland. Join poet and lecturer Dr Mariah Whelan as we explore a selection of poems by:

• W. B. Yeats
• Louis MacNeice
• Michael Longley
• Seamus Heaney
• Medbh McGuckian

9th November – 14th December (weekly classes) 2023 – Workshop: An Introduction to Writing Poetry, Literature Cambridge (online)

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.