A winding path across a grassy hillside beneath a dramatic sky

Evergreen course plan · Enrolment not openImagination and cultural reading · Self-paced

Epic poetry and retelling: reshape a journey

Reshape journeys and inherited narratives through original poetic retellings. Work with viewpoint, scale and a clear record of sources and invention.

Suggested pace: 4 weeks
Learning time: 16 hours
Format: Self-paced

Our course is evergreen, so its suggested pace is not a fixed start date or deadline. Explore our syllabus and original open lesson below. The full teaching pack, feedback arrangements and delivery still need to be completed before enrolment opens.

AN OPEN LESSON · ABOUT 20 MINUTES

Tell the journey from the place left behind

An epic journey can look different from a harbour, kitchen or empty room. Changing the centre of attention reveals the practical consequences of an adventure's departure.

Try it now

Invent a traveller and a person who stays behind. Write eight lines from the stay-at-home perspective without summarising the traveller's feats.

Read it back, or check the result

Let the remaining person's concerns stand on their own. Use an original tale or a checked public-domain source, and do not copy a modern translation's language.

This original Learn Courses exercise is free to read and use for your own practice. It is a standalone introduction, not a claim that the full course or tutor feedback is available.

FREE · AT YOUR OWN PACE

Follow this plan

Keep your own record as you work through the open lesson, each module and the final project. The full lesson pack and tutor feedback are still in production, so this records your own study, not an assessed result.

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KEEP IN TOUCH ABOUT THIS COURSE

Interested? Let us know.

Our course is evergreen. Register interest for course-specific availability contact, without a fixed start date, payment or reserved place. This does not subscribe you to a general newsletter.

IS THIS FOR YOU?

Who this course is for

Poets interested in journeys, inherited narratives and the consequences of changing a story's viewpoint.

Before you begin

A notebook or accessible writing tool and a way to read the supplied text-first material.
No formal writing qualification is required. Bring existing drafts if useful, or start with the original prompts supplied for the course.
Use my own work, public-domain material or expressly permitted sources. Sharing personal experiences is optional.

FREE TO DO

Free

Our poetry and writing courses are free to do. We will not charge a course fee for these courses. The published introductory lesson is available now; full teaching materials and any tutor-led sessions will open when ready.

No course fee. Try the open lesson now; full course enrolment is not open yet.

Explore a sample learning space →

The sample is fictional. It is separate from this course’s future lessons.

A PRACTICAL NEXT STEP

What you’ll be able to do

Use a public-domain story or an original tale to separate its events from the values attached to them.
Write from the perspective of an invented minor figure without borrowing a contemporary translation's wording.
Write one event as a short scene and as a compressed catalogue, comparing what each form can hold.
Produce a three-part response with a source note distinguishing borrowed structure, original language and invention.

THE TEACHING PLAN

Your next 4 weeks

A clear route through the subject, with something to make, test or reflect on at every stage.

MODULE 1

Map the inherited journey

Use a public-domain story or an original tale to separate its events from the values attached to them.

Your practical activity: Use a public-domain story or an original tale to separate its events from the values attached to them.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding: Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind map the inherited journey. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.

MODULE 2

Change the centre of attention

Write from the perspective of an invented minor figure without borrowing a contemporary translation's wording.

Your practical activity: Write from the perspective of an invented minor figure without borrowing a contemporary translation's wording.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding: Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind change the centre of attention. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.

MODULE 3

Make scale a formal choice

Write one event as a short scene and as a compressed catalogue, comparing what each form can hold.

Your practical activity: Write one event as a short scene and as a compressed catalogue, comparing what each form can hold.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding: Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind make scale a formal choice. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.

MODULE 4

Present a responsible retelling

Produce a three-part response with a source note distinguishing borrowed structure, original language and invention.

Your practical activity: Produce a three-part response with a source note distinguishing borrowed structure, original language and invention.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding: Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind present a responsible retelling. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

Your final project

Produce a three-part response with a source note distinguishing borrowed structure, original language and invention. Show how the first three module experiments informed the final result. Personal disclosure and public performance are optional.

What you’ll produce

Use a public-domain story or an original tale to separate its events from the values attached to them.
Write from the perspective of an invented minor figure without borrowing a contemporary translation's wording.
Write one event as a short scene and as a compressed catalogue, comparing what each form can hold.
Produce a three-part response with a source note distinguishing borrowed structure, original language and invention.
A concise reflection, revision record and source-and-rights note.

What good work looks like

Intent and craft: 30 marks for purposeful choices that the submitted work demonstrates.
Development: 25 marks for meaningful experiments, revision and an explained response to feedback.
Coherence and usability: 25 marks for an integrated portfolio or practical pack suited to its intended audience.
Reflection and sources: 20 marks for clear process notes, honest attribution and appropriate privacy boundaries. Completion requires at least 70/100, all exercises and correction of any unresolved source-rights or privacy issue. Literary taste, personal disclosure, publication acceptance and sales are not marking criteria.

Resources for your learning

An original text-first lesson and worked example for map the inherited journey.
An original text-first lesson and worked example for change the centre of attention.
An original text-first lesson and worked example for make scale a formal choice.
An original text-first lesson and worked example for present a responsible retelling.
A course-specific workbook, source-and-rights ledger and a completed project reference.
Captions and transcripts for any recordings produced before launch.

A course you can access

Provide text-first lessons, edited transcripts and captions for every recording.
Support screen readers, keyboard navigation, readable formatting and low-bandwidth downloads.
Offer equivalent written or recorded evidence; live attendance and rapid spoken responses are not required by default.
Allow an invented or indirect writing route and private tutor submission where a subject feels personal. Provide content notes and a clear support boundary before enrolment.

FINISH WITH SOMETHING USEFUL

How you’ll complete the course

Complete the four original exercises and a revision or testing record.
Submit the capstone with a source-and-influence statement and meet the published 70/100 rubric.
Respond to feedback or explain a reasoned decision to retain the original choice.
No public performance, personal disclosure, external publication or commercial sale is required. Completion is internal recognition of assessed work, not external accreditation.

Completion will describe the work you have done. No external accreditation or professional qualification is claimed.

BEFORE ENROLMENT OPENS

What still needs finishing

Course materials and delivery are not ready yet. We’ll update this page before enrolment opens.

Produce and review the four original lessons, exercise sheets and reference submissions for this course.
Confirm tutor availability, relevant experience, feedback arrangements and realistic study time through a pilot.
Clear source and media rights, provide accessible equivalents and keep personal disclosure optional.
Approve the final fee, access period, support, cancellation and refund terms before sale.
Verify paid entitlements and private submission boundaries before enrolment opens.

The ideas behind the course

Our poetry curriculum draws on public subject research and our original writing exercises. Linked external sources retain their own authorship and are background references, not our course materials or an endorsement. The full teaching pack still needs production and review.

autumn 2026 quick course guide

KEEP EXPLORING

A useful next course

Explore all poetry and writing courses →

EXPLORE THE ACADEMY

See how the learning space feels.

Try the fictional learner demo →