Amazing course, very well structured. Helped develop my poetic voice and provided technical knowledge as well. Experimented in poetic forms I'd never heard of. Thank you so much.

Great course! Recommend everyone who wants to write poetry to take this up!

I Just loved this course. I learnt a lot of things about poetry. Soon i wish i would publish a book on poetry by writing and incorporating the lessons learnt in the class.

What a great course!

At first, wanting to keep true to my own style, I started with much trepidation but, right from the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole process expanded my awareness and, rather than putting me in a straitjacket of style and substance, it expanded my horizons, sometimes with prompts that seemed totally impossible; particularly daunting were the lipogram, cinquain and Alexandrine, and yet the poems flowed. This was a big revelation for me, as well as very exciting.

I’m still surprised that I wrote many poems of which I’m so very proud, often working on both prompts. The course moved me out of my comfort zone: for instance, with ‘The Table-Top Pencil Sharpener’, which was supposed to be pure image, but wouldn’t behave, and wrote itself anyway. I would never have written a poem on this subject before, and yet it emerged. Writing something so different on a subject so seemingly mundane, really cemented in my mind the possibility of writing poetry about anything, whilst filtering it through perception and imagination.

Another aspect of the course that stands out for me are the peer reviews: both giving and receiving. I was very lucky to have reviewed some fantastic poems, and most of the reviews I received were thoughtful and productive. Going to try to use the comments box, now, to thank those who took the time to really consider the poems and their comments.

The moderators were excellent, helping out with both technical aspects of the course and comments on poems. There were some technical and navigational aspects of the website I struggled with: finding peer reviews, and lack of reviewers at certain times so having to reset deadlines, but the moderators stepped in very quickly.

Even though the course has finished, I will still tackle some of the prompts not completed within the timeframe, due to deadlines (or as someone on the forums endearingly termed them - ‘deathlines’!) The ‘conceit’, for one, and an already started new poem, using rhyme originally penned by a famous poet.

Thank you for a concise yet truly inspirational course. I will remember this time with great affection.

This course has so much substance in it, very engaging and lively. I loved the way Doug teaches and passes across lessons! Perhaps I should come take a course at CALARTS.

Great experience. The course was very well done from a technical and systems perspective. The online experience and tools worked really well, easy to understand and use. The instructions for using the tools were clear, especially the workshop and assignments portion. The instructor, Doug Kearney, was effective, funny and very on-point. Overall, five starts. I look forward to doing another one. Oh yeah, my poetry improved as a result!

This was a brilliant course. I audited the course with interest, and completed it. It acquainted me with essentials of writing and understanding poetry. Brilliant!

Engaging on a new level. I like the workshop format on a MOOC.

It's a great course for learning about poetry in depth

Loved it! Great teaching, well paced, can't get enough of the transcripts with the videos. Very fun and really pushed me in my craft.