Enjoying Poetry 2026

This year I shall concentrate largely on verse written in the 20th century and for the most part by by British writers. Thus we will travel from “Victorian” Romanticism through to WW1 and subsequently into Modernism as exemplified in the poetry of T.S.Eliot (who I am aware wasn’t British). 

From there we will journey into some of the political poetry of the 1930's. Post WW2 we will consider the New Romanticism of Dylan Thomas followed by some of the work of “The Movement” (e.g. Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis) who appeared to reject the “poetic voice” for a more ironic and worldly verse. 

If time permits we will look at one or two poets of the post modern era in the latter part of the century such as Adrian Mitchell who may prove to be a revelation to some. We may also take a brief excursion into British popular song which also underwent momentous changes, for better or for worse, in the century which straddled song lyrics from composers and lyricists as diverse as Leslie Stuart, Noel Coward and Lennon and McCartney.

So. . . a rough guide to a very rough century, the cultural values of which which are already vanishing in the rear-view mirror of history. If looking at and discussing words on the page and listening to voices of singers and poets appeals to you, then come and join in the fun.

This course begins on the 17th September 2026