What are the things you were taught not to say – or do? What happens when poetry breaks those rules and says them anyway?
Over four weeks with Rachel Long and Cecilia Knapp, Writing Taboo will explore poems that challenge silence, propriety, and prescribed roles.
Together, we’ll examine the identities we inherit, inhabit, resist, and reinvent. We’ll wander through fairy tales, myths, and folklore, encountering witches, stepmothers, river spirits, and deities from across cultures, asking how these figures continue to shape contemporary ideas of desire, power, femininity, and transgression.
Inspired by poets including Sharon Olds, Lucia Perillo, Morgan Parker, and Hera Lindsay Bird, we’ll consider how poetry can forge language for the unspeakable. We’ll read and discuss work that is bold, funny, unsettling, irreverent, and unruly, and explore how writers confront shame, disrupt expectations, and give voice to what is often left unsaid. Through lively discussion, close reading, and daring writing exercises, you’ll create new poems that engage with taboo subjects, inherited stories, and the possibilities of speaking ‘out of turn’.
Expect to write risky, incisive work alongside a community of writers ready to take creative leaps, challenge assumptions, and discover where the poem can go when nothing is off limits.
What to expect:
- Expert guidance from your tutors: Acclaimed industry experts share their knowledge and experience
- Personal Feedback: Focused 1:1 sessions with one of your tutors each week
- Inspiration from a range of screenplays: Learn more about what makes a compelling screenplay
- Momentum: A 4-week period of engagement and focus on your craft
- Community: An online community of supportive peers and tutors
- At the end of the four weeks you’ll leave feeling energised and inspired, with a roadmap for how to develop your script further, and with clarity on how to get there.
Please see the detailed course timetable here.
Is this course for me?
Our month-long courses are aimed at writers who have a specific goal in mind for the month. This might be to begin their writing journey, to make progress on a work-in-progress, or to kickstart a commitment to their writing going forward.
These courses are often attended by writers who:
- Want to commit time to their writing but life keeps getting in the way
- Can attend evening workshops and tutorials
- Would love one-to-one feedback from two professional writers
- Feel they could set aside a month to kickstart (or restart) their writing habit
- Want a live, fully interactive experience with a group of no more than 14 writers
What will I gain?
- Weekly interactive evening workshops to propel your writing forward
- Two 25-minute one-to-one tutorials with experienced tutors
- Free passes to all webinar events happening elsewhere at Arvon at Home during your month with us including masterclasses (each worth £40)
- Accountability each week to make progress through intention setting and group support
- A group of creative peers who you may decide to keep in contact with after the course
- Support at all times from friendly Arvon hosts
- An inclusive and supportive environment in which to open up creatively
How does it work?
The month kicks off with an introductory session to get to know you and to ensure we meet your individual writing needs, as well as the chance to meet the other writers in the group. Then each week for the next month there will be evening workshops on Tuesdays designed to move you and your writing forward. You will also be offered one-to-one tutorials with each tutor + a free pass to all readings and masterclasses happening elsewhere at Arvon at Home.
A more detailed timetable can be found here.
Why Arvon?
Arvon is a not-for-profit charity that has been running since 1968.
At Arvon, everyone who crosses the door of one of our writing houses is a writer – no matter what their age or writing experience – and all are welcome.
For more information visit About Arvon – Home of Creative Writing since 1968 – Arvon
We are committed to making our Arvon at Home programme accessible to as many people as possible.
Our FAQ page may also helpful.
Across all of Arvon at Home
- All sessions will have auto-generated captioning
- There is a Chat facility to ask any questions.
Masterclasses
- A recording of the masterclass will be available to view without a time limit after the live event. You will receive an email with a link to the recording the day after the masterclass takes place. You can also access it in your Arvon account by logging in on our website, finding the course under My Bookings and clicking on More Details. The recording will have auto-captions running, and chat and transcript will be visible alongside. Any course materials shared by the tutor will also be available in your Arvon account.
- There is a Chat and Q & A facility to ask any questions
- Zoom webinar format (your video and audio will remain off throughout, & your name will not be visible to other participants so it is a ‘relaxed’ event)
- We aim to present all resources in two formats e.g., extracts of texts will be read aloud and provided in text form via screen-share or as a document. If it would be helpful for you to have any available resources ahead of the session, we will try to arrange this for you. Please email arvonathome@arvon.org to discuss.
The Obsidian Black Poetry Lectures
- A recording of the event will be available to view for six months after the live event. You will receive an email with a link to the recording the day after the event takes place. You can also access it in your Arvon account by logging in on our website, finding the course under My Bookings and clicking on More Details. The recording will have auto-captions running, and chat and transcript will be visible alongside. Any course materials shared by the tutor will also be available in your Arvon account.
- There is a Chat and Q & A facility to ask any questions
- Zoom webinar format (your video and audio will remain off throughout, & your name will not be visible to other participants so it is a ‘relaxed’ event)
- We aim to present all resources in two formats e.g., extracts of texts will be read aloud and provided in text form via screen-share or as a document. If it would be helpful for you to have any available resources ahead of the session, we will try to arrange this for you. Please email arvonathome@arvon.org to discuss.
Saturday Writing Club
- There is a Chat and Q & A facility to ask any questions
- The sessions are delivered by Zoom meeting, which means they are not recorded.
- You have the option to keep cameras on or off.
- We aim to present all resources in two formats e.g., extracts of texts will be read aloud and provided in text form via screen-share or as a document. If it would be helpful for you to have any available resources ahead of the session, we will try to arrange this for you. Please email arvonathome@arvon.org to discuss.
- We use Padlet as an optional community platform. If you would like some more information about this, or if you have access barriers to using this platform, please email arvonathome@arvon.org.
Online Writing Days
- A recording of the workshops will be available to view for one month after it is aired live. You will receive an email with a link to the recording the day after the masterclass takes place. You can also access it in your Arvon account by logging in on our website, finding the course under My Bookings and clicking on More Details. The recording will have auto-captions running, and chat and transcript will be visible alongside. Any course materials shared by the tutor will also be available in your Arvon account.
- There is a Chat and Q & A facility to ask any questions.
- All sessions of the day are delivered live via Zoom meetings, with the option of cameras off or on.
- We aim to present all resources in two formats e.g., extracts of texts will be read aloud and provided in text form via screen-share or as a document. If it would be helpful for you to have any available resources ahead of the session, we will try to arrange this for you. Please email arvonathome@arvon.org to discuss.
Writing Weeks and Writing Months
- Courses are delivered by Zoom meeting, which means they are not recorded.
- Online writing weeks and months have smaller groups than our other events of up 14 participants, and are interactive with tutors and your fellow course participants. We encourage everyone to participate in the way that is most comfortable. You are welcome to keep your camera and audio on or off, take breaks as needed, and contribute either on audio or in the chat.
- Tutors and participants often use the zoom chat to interact and share resources. If you have access barriers to using the chat, please let us know.
- We use Padlet as a landing page for all course materials, and to provide an optional platform for interaction with your tutors and fellow course participants. If you would like some more information about this, or if you have any access barriers to using this platform, please email arvonathome@arvon.org.
A note on the use of AI and recording
- Due to concerns around privacy, we do not allow the use of external AI transcription services during our online events and courses. Auto-captioning is available across all of our online courses, and the transcript can be viewed during the session. For recorded events (Masterclasses, The Obsidian Black Poetry Lectures and Online Writing Days), the auto-captions, transcript and chatbox can be viewed alongside the recording. Please get in touch via access@arvon.org if you would like to discuss this further.
Subject to funding/permissions/availability (please contact arvonathome@arvon.org for more details)
- Recording of Writing Weeks and Writing Months
- Downloadable transcripts
- BSL interpretation
- Live captioning
If you have any access needs that we have not covered here, please contact us on access@arvon.org
See here for more access information.
Rachel Long
Cecilia Knapp
