What's being said: poetry courses & cultural production

"Emily Cullen's workshop was a truly enriching and empowering experience. The weekly exercises given by Emily provided an opportunity to utilise the tips given to us during the classes. Emily's personalised and sensitive feedback was invaluable in helping to shape and improve our work. Her love of poetry and teaching was clear in every single class and was truly an inspiration. Added to this, the group was dynamic, talented and fun-loving. I certainly enjoyed this course and would be delighted to participate in any other course Emily will offer in the future." - Cathy Conlon

"Emily’s Poetry Writing Course is cleverly constructed and leads writers through the many ingredients that make up a poem. We all became involved and contrasting each other’s work made it a lively, encouraging experience. You will complete several pieces of writing and feel enthused to complete even more afterwards.’ - Pat Jourdan.

"Emily's course nudged me out of a creative block. Her poetry course is brilliantly structured, inspiring and expertly delivered - she is a wealth of information, and a warm and kind teacher.’ - Niamh Boyce

Emily Cullen’s short course, The Craft of Poetry, is an excellent introduction for aspiring poets to the literary form while it also offers those who have experience the opportunity to polish and hone their writing skills. Through Emily’s course, participants will gain a greater insight and understanding into writing poetry and this was evident in the weekly contributions from the participants. Each week, the standard rose higher and higher. Indeed, such was the enjoyment that, following the conclusion of The Craft of Poetry, the participants on the course I was involved in set up their own poetry group, which continues to meet online twice a month and, more importantly, we submit work on an on-going basis for publication. – Stephen Glennon, Editor, The Tuam Herald

Emily taught a weekly poetry group focusing on the 'Craft of Poetry Writing' in which I enrolled as a student in February to April 2021. This group provided a fantastic foundation of knowledge for everyone interested in developing their poetic technique. Emily's course was robust and coherently organised per week. Her course content was varied and delved deeply into many areas of poetry. Most importantly, she retained a beautiful teaching manner that impacted all members of the course. She encouraged all members to produce weekly poetry and delivered excellent feedback on each participants poetry. Emily's brilliant, strong, academic and insightful understanding of poetry was a pleasure to witness, as well as a pleasure to be taught by her. Her poetry is beautiful, brilliant and powerful. I would happily recommend Emily's 'Craft of Poetry Writing' to anybody interested in developing their taste for poetry. – Aine Rose Connell

"Thanks Emily for being such a kind and generous teacher, for your encouragement and gentle coaxing and especially for your passion for poetry, your breadth of knowledge is truly astounding." – Susan Kelly

"The course was packed with insights and information that really helped me as a poet. Emily was an encouraging tutor and made the whole experience enjoyable. On top of that I have 5 nearly finished poems!’ – Majella Haugh

“Thanks again for everything – your technical skills, your research, your interview skills, your inclusiveness of everyone in the book club, your warm and friendly manner and just your overall contribution over the last six months on these projects. Keep smiling and being you!” – Sharleen McAndrew, Galway Public Libraries

“Emily was an extremely conscientious and hard working member of the DHO team. She performed a wide range of tasks with great enthusiasm. She brought innovative solutions to academic, business and event management challenges. As co-ordinator she was always dependable, always thinking about better ways to accomplish our strategic objectives and imagining new and thoughtful ways to engage with our primary stakeholders.” – Shawn Day, Project Manager, DHO, Royal Irish Academy