Writing Poetry with Evelyn Araluen
Learn about fundamentals of poetic language and form
Join award-winning poet Evelyn Araluen in this practical and inspiring course all about craft and style in poetic practice.
Whether you’ve been writing poetry all your life or you’ve never written a verse, this course will enhance your confidence to play with language and embrace complexity and coincidence. Through a series of writing exercises you'll be encouraged to find literary inspiration and build your own skills.
You'll learn:
- About poetic fundamentals like line and syntax
- How your favourite poems can help you write your own
- How poetic language is distinct from everyday language
- How constraints can open up new opportunities
- How editing and experimentation can get your poems to the finish line
The course is designed to take you 5–6 hours in total, and can be completed in short stages at your convenience. Scroll down to see the full course curriculum and a list of frequently asked questions.
'This was beautifully delivered. There was a terrific balance of content and opportunities to explore in the exercises. Often exercises feel a little tacked on in an asynchronous workshop like this, but these really invited me to have a go, and I think this was due to the both the nature of the exercises themselves and the care taken when providing direction. The examples used throughout were thoroughly engaging.'
'This is an amazing course! Evelyn Araluen is not only a gifted poet, she is a natural teacher. Through a series of structured activities, my poetry improved significantly. I highly recommend this course to both lovers and writers of poetry.'
KYD Members receive a 10% discount on this course and all other KYD online courses throughout the year. Become a member here, or contact courses@killyourdarlings.com.au for more information.
Your Instructor
Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie and Koori poet, editor and researcher. Born and raised on Dharug Country and in the broader Western Sydney Black community, she now lives on Wurundjeri Country where she works as a lecturer at the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development, as a co-editor of Overland Literary Journal and as Chairperson for the Board of the Institute of Postcolonial Studies. Her debut poetry collection, Dropbear, won the 2022 Stella Prize and the Australian Book Industry Award’s 2022 Small Publisher’s Adult Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the premier’s awards of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Her work has also received the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, the Judith Wright Poetry Prize and a Melbourne Prize Career Development Award. Her latest book of poetry, The Rot, was published in 2025.
Course Curriculum
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StartIntroduction (0:51)
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StartWhat Does Poetry Do?
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StartUnordinary Speech: An Example (1:02)
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StartThe Anti-example (0:42)
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StartExercise: Writing the Cold
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StartThe ‘Three Kinds of Poetry’
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StartHow Does Poetry Do What It Does?
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StartKaveh Akbar — Against Poetry (2:08)
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StartExercise: Poetries of the Eye, Ear and Mind
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StartSummary (0:53)