Creative Writing Courses
I run regular online self-paced creative writing courses, as well as in-person workshops and courses.
AUTUMN 2026
Writing Neurodiversity: A Beginner’s Poetry Course (In-person: Cardiff)
In a safe and supportive space, this neurodivergent-led course will focus on how poetry can help us to explore, articulate, process and reflect on our own neurodivergent experience. We will respond to negative experiences and stereotypes, celebrate our neurodivergent strengths, and use language and poetic techniques to express what it means to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world.
The course is open to anyone who has (or who thinks they might have) lived experience of neurodivergence (diagnosed, self-diagnosed, or undiagnosed).
We will examine several texts written by neurodivergent writers, including Kate Fox, Jane Burn, Esther Ottaway, and Oz Hardwick, with a focus on the following topics:
- Reflecting on childhood memories
- The neurodivergent journey – diagnosis / self-diagnosis
- Understanding our own unique neurodivergence
- Communicating lived experience to others
- Celebrating neurodivergent strengths
- Responding to stigma and stereotypes
Throughout the course, we will experiment with various writing tools (including humour, word-play, and poetic form) as a means of expressing and articulating neurodivergent lived experience, and we will use ekphrasis (responding to visual prompts) as a catalyst for reflection.
*This course is aimed at beginners. You do not need any previous experience of writing poetry. As well as writing about our own neurodivergent experience, we will also consider what makes a poem a poem, and reflect on poetic techniques such as line breaks, rhythm and form.
Location: Lifelong Learning Centre, Park Place, Cardiff
Date/Time: 10 weekly seminars on Tuesday mornings (10.30 to 12.30) beginning 29th September
Fee: £220. There are also concession rates (at £176) and a fee waiver scheme.
Booking details are available HERE.
NOTE: I will be delivering an online version of this course, aimed at more experienced writers, in the Spring Term.
Poetry 1: Starting to Write (Online)
This creative writing course is for people who want to start writing poetry, or for those who are already writing poetry, but would find it helpful to take a fresh look at the nuts and bolts of how poetry works. We will examine and play with basic elements of poetic form and technique, such as white space, line breaks, repetition, rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor. We will seek inspiration from personal experience, and from visual art, and we’ll also reflect on the revision and editing process. Students will be encouraged to complete weekly reading and writing tasks through an online forum, and there will be three live workshops delivered via Teams on Thursday mornings. Here’s an outline of the topics covered…
- Poem as Experience: Concrete & Sensory Detail
- Sound, metre, rhythm and rhyme
- Poetic imagery – metaphor and simile
- Poetic Form
- Line breaks and white space
- Perspectives & Voices
- The Editing Process
- Seeking inspiration from art (ekphrasis)
- Finishing poems
- Publication options
To book a place: Visit this booking page and click ‘Enrol Now’.
Fee: £140.00. There is also a Fee Waiver Scheme for people living in Wales who meet certain criteria.
Location: online
Date/Time: The course will take place across 8 weeks, with 3 live workshops on Thursday mornings (on 15th October, 12th November, 3rd December). Begins on 12th October.
SPRING 2027
Writing Neurodiversity: Processing Lived Experience through Poetry (online)
In a safe and supportive space, this neurodivergent-led course will focus on how poetry can help us to explore, articulate, process and reflect on our own neurodivergent experience. We will respond to negative experiences and stereotypes, celebrate our neurodivergent strengths, and use language and poetic techniques to express what it means to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world.
*This course is aimed at writers who already have some experience of writing poetry.
The course is open to anyone who has (or who thinks they might have) lived experience of neurodivergence (diagnosed, self-diagnosed, or undiagnosed).
We will examine several texts written by neurodivergent writers, including Kate Fox, Jane Burn, Esther Ottaway, and Oz Hardwick, with a focus on the following topics:
- Reflecting on childhood memories
- The neurodivergent journey – diagnosis / self-diagnosis
- Understanding our own unique neurodivergence
- Communicating lived experience to others
- Celebrating neurodivergent strengths
- Responding to stigma and stereotypes
Throughout the course, we will experiment with various writing tools (including humour, word-play, and poetic form) as a means of expressing and articulating neurodivergent lived experience, and we will use ekphrasis (responding to visual prompts) as a catalyst for reflection.
Location: online
Date/Time: 10 weekly seminars on Thursday mornings (10.00 to 12.00) beginning 4th February.
Fee: £220. There are also concession rates (at £176) and a fee waiver scheme.
Booking details are available HERE.
Experimenting with Poetic Form & Technique (online)
Starts 1st February – more details and booking information coming soon!
Date/Time: The course will take place across 8 weeks, and there will be 3 live workshops on Wednesday evenings (3rd February, 3rd March, 24th April)
Location: online
SUMMER 2027
Creative Writing: Exploring Contemporary Poetry Collections (online)
Starts 26th April – more details and booking information coming soon!
Date/Time: The course will take place across 8 weeks, and there will be 3 live workshops on Tuesday evenings (27th April, 25th May, 15th June)
Location: online
Inspired by Art: Ekphrastic Poetry and Prose (online)
Starts 26th April – more details and booking information coming soon!
Date/Time: The course will take place across 8 weeks, and there will be 3 live workshops on Thursday mornings (29th April, 27th May, 17th June)
Location: online
Upcoming Poetry Readings
I have performed in Manchester, York, Rome, Bristol, Aberystwyth, and other locations in the UK. Please do let me know if you’d like to book me for a poetry festival or event.
Workshops
I can offer workshops on a range of topics and am equally happy to develop bespoke writing workshops, so please do contact me if you have any suggestions or to negotiate a fee (my email is rachel@createdtoread.com).
Topics I’ve focused on in past workshops include: responding to visual art, using imagery and metaphor, character and point of view, short stories, flash fiction, editing and revision, erasure poetry, the poetry of Edward Thomas, poetic forms, life-writing and blogging. I’ve also taught workshops on Poetic Inquiry as a method of research for PhD students, and neurodiversity awareness workshops for those teaching in HE.
I have several years’ experience of planning and delivering learning activities for adults, and for children of all ages, including special interest or community groups. I have previously developed workshops on a wide range of topics, including creative writing, storytelling, local history and literacy.
From 2017 to 2020 I delivered a monthly community writing workshop (From Paint to Page: An Ekphrastic Writing Group) at The Gate Arts Centre. Since 2020 I have been teaching creative writing at university level, to undergraduate students, MA students and PhD students. I am now a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). I have taught at Cardiff University (2020-present), Swansea University (2025), and Aberystwyth University (2025-26) and I also work as a freelancer.
In addition to my PhD, I completed an MA in Creative Writing in 2019 (at Manchester Met). Prior to this, I studied English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, in 2006.
Recent Workshops and Projects
- Explore Collective – 2022-2024 Working with ACE (Action in Caerau & Ely), Disability Arts Cymru, Valleys Kids, and artists Becci Booker, Nic Parsons and Suzie Larke to deliver community writing workshops. Funded by Arts Council Wales.
- In So Many Words / Celf a Cherdd – 2022 – In partnership with National Museum Wales, as part of my PhD research, I delivered a series of in-person workshops in the museum, inviting people to respond to the artwork. Their poems formed part of an interactive display which took place from 6th September, to 6th November, inviting visitors to write poems of their own. This was funded by the AHRC via the SWWDTP.
- Art & Words – 2021 – In partnership with National Museum Wales (as part of my PhD research) I delivered ten online creative writing workshops for a group of people living in Rhondda Cynon Taf, writing poems in response to works of art from the museum’s collection. Their poems were displayed on the museum’s Instagram account along with poetry prompts, inviting members of the public to have a go at writing their own poems. Funded by the AHRC via the SWWDTP.
- Virtual Poet in Residence – 27th June 2020 – As part of a virtual poet in residence project at the Cynon Valley Museum I delivered a free online workshop, encouraging people to seek inspiration from their online art exhibitions.
Testimonials from the ‘My Creative Time’ project, where I ran an introductory poetry workshop for members of a local drawing group:
“Rachel introduced us to a style of poetry that was completely new to me in a very clear and interactive way. Examples of other poets’ work were shown to help us understand the concepts she was talking about.”
“I have never given poetry much thought in the past so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I found the session so interesting and was quite surprised as to what appeared on the page after writing continuously for a few minutes without stopping to work out what to say next. Thanks for an enjoyable new experience.”
“It was interesting to interpret how I felt about this painting, and its place in my life experience, into written words. Rachel was so helpful in guiding me to hone it down to its final version. I enjoyed the process enormously.”
Testimonials from members of the monthly writing group:
“I like the structure of the session… We get a lot in but it doesn’t seem like a rush. I like reading the poems and discussing them – gradually seeing more in both the poem and the picture. I have enjoyed discovering new poets, or ones I have vaguely heard of but not read much of, and I follow them up after the session”
“The atmosphere is welcoming and the format, of discussing a poem/related imagery at the start before seeking inspiration from the walls of The Gate gently shifts the mindset to being ready to be inspired. By the time we are writing to whatever art has caught our eye, the exchanges about the sample pieces has opened the mental flow to receive ideas. And the extent to which the individual writers ‘lose themselves’ in the picture they are inspired by, or express their customary personal inclinations/style through the filter of the chosen prompt image is always intriguing. I have my own ‘drive’ as a writer but attend workshops to see what comes of it. And what comes is writing that would not/could not exist without the spark the sessions provide.”
“I’m always impressed with the research done before the session- I learn about poets and artists as well as improve my writing.”
Testimonials from attendees of a recent workshop ‘Creative Writing: Inspiration from Art’:
“I enjoyed the use of art to act as a stimulus to writing, and the use of questions to springboard work as it took me in unexpected directions. Really enjoyed it, thank you!”
“Really good session, great to learn new techniques I can use personally and professionally. The questions method in a limited time got me thinking very differently.”
Testimonials from attendees of ‘An Introduction to Blogging’:
“Rachel was super lovely and engaging, the session felt friendly whilst still being very informative”
“All of it was very useful, especially the examples shown.”
“I have learned a lot about the technical aspects of setting up a blog, but also about the importance of tailoring (writing) style to your audiences etc. – I was a complete novice before!”
“I hadn’t really thought about the more practical benefits of a blog… so it was very encouraging to learn about how blogging can help to foster connections and open up new opportunities! I found the practical tips on how to start a blog… very helpful as well.”
