The Poetry of Place

Module title	The Poetry of Place
Module code	EAS3256
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	30
Module staff	Professor John Clarke (Convenor) Professor Andrew McRae (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	16

Module description

This module combines creative and critical perspectives on the poetry of place. The module will consider a range of classic British writing of place alongside major contemporary authors, and you will develop your own creative and critical practice within this context. The module will engage with contemporary approaches to place-based writing in the creative and heritage sectors, and will be alert throughout to the context of the climate emergency. Combined Honours students may choose to take this module as a Creative Writing or an English module, and your assessment pathway will be structured accordingly.

Module aims - intentions of the module

You will gain an appreciation of the poetry of place, in historical and contemporary contexts
You will consider the contributions that poetry can make to our understandings of place
You will have the opportunity to develop your own writing practice

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate an advanced critical understanding of the poetry of place
2. Demonstrate a capacity for advanced creative engagement with existing traditions of poetry of place
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which poetry can engage with contemporary environmental debates

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. Demonstrate an advanced ability to interrelate and critically analyse poetry from the past and present
5. Demonstrate an informed appreciation of formal techniques and imaginative expression in creative writing
6. Demonstrate an appreciation of the public functions of poetry and the creative industries in Britain

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

7. Demonstrate advanced skills in creative expression, and a capacity to write clearly and correctly
8. Demonstrate advanced analytical and communication skills, independent and collaborative research skills
9. Demonstrate advanced team-working skills, as evident within classes and in the creative/critical group project

Syllabus plan

The module will be arranged thematically. The themes may change slightly from year to year, but are expected to include: homes and nations; estates and managed landscapes; common lands and wild spaces; rivers and wetlands; cities and their edgelands; sacred and mystical places. Approaches will combine: reading of relevant poetry, both contemporary and from the British historical tradition; consideration of relevant theory and contemporary creative practices; engagement with contemporary creative practices and public projects; and your own creative practice.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
38	262	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	11	Content-led classes
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	22	Seminars/workshops: classes combining creative and critical interactive learning methods
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	5	Field Trip (focus on writing about a particular site: creative and critical approaches)
Guided independent study	110	Class preparation.
Guided Independent Study	52	Assessment preparation

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Critical/creative commentary	20	1500 words; or 750 words and 35 lines of poetry	1-5, 7, 8	Feedback sheet with opportunity for follow-up conversation
Group project	30	2000 words (equivalent)	1-9	Feedback sheet with opportunity for follow-up conversation
Essay or creative writing	40	2500 words; or 125 lines of poetry	1-5, 7, 8	Feedback sheet with opportunity for follow-up conversation
Module participation	10	Continuous assessment	1-9	Opportunity for follow-up conversation
	0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Critical/creative commentary (1500 words / 750 words + 35 lines of poetry)	Critical/creative commentary (1500 words / 750 words + 35 lines of poetry)	1-5, 7-8	Referral/deferral period
Group project (2000 words)	Essay (2000 words) or poetry (100 lines).	1-9	Referral/deferral period
Essay or creative writing (2500 words / 125 line of poetry)	Essay or creative writing (2500 words / 125 line of poetry)	1-5, 7-8	Referral/deferral period
Module participation	Repeat study or mitigation	1-9

Re-assessment notes

Individual re-assessment replaces the group project because re-assessing a group may not always be appropriate or possible.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Rachael Allen Kingdomland
John Clare, Selected Poems
John Wedgwood Clarke, Landfill
Jason Allen-Paisant, Thinking with Trees
Stephen Watts, Republic of Dogs/ Republic of Birds
Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion (Songs 13, 25)
John Gay, Trivia
Thomas Hardy, Wessex Poems and Other Verses
Geoffrey Hill Mercian Hymns
Seamus Heaney, Station Island
Kathleen Jamie, Tree House
Zaffir Kunial England’s Green
Andrew Marvell, Upon Appleton House
Sinéad Morrissey, Parallax
Alice Oswald, Dart & Falling Awake
Jean Sprackland Hardwater, Strandline
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads
Ann Yearsley, Clifton Hill
Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts, Edgelands
Seamus Heaney, Place and Displacement
Kathleen Jamie, Findings
Jonathan Bate, Songs of the Earth
Dorothy Wordsworth, Diaries

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

You will consider the public functions of the poetry of place today by engaging with relevant projects and websites, including:

Key words search

Poetry; place; creative writing

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	6
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	04/02/2025
Last revision date	04/02/2025