Poetry Classes That Fit Around Your Life
Quick answer: Writory's online poetry classes are self-paced: five free modules and more written lessons available by one-time unlock, with no timetable. Feedback on your own poems comes through Writory's monthly contest, where every entry is scored out of 100 across five criteria and detailed written feedback is available.
Honest answer first: these classes are self-paced lessons, not live video calls. You study when you want, and real feedback exists where it matters, on your actual poems, through the monthly contest's judged scores and written feedback.
The full curriculum: 16 courses, 120 lessons, about 17 hours
- Poetry Fundamentals, 10 lessons: Start here. Everything a new poet needs, taught gently and honestly.
- Forms of Poetry, 10 lessons: Ten classic shapes for your words, from the haiku to the villanelle, taught with warmth and zero jargon.
- Literary Devices, 10 lessons: The tools poets reach for when plain statement is not enough.
- Writing Techniques, 11 lessons: The craft moves that turn a draft into a poem worth rereading.
- Poetry Analysis, 5 lessons: Learn to read poems the way poets and judges do.
- Writer Growth, 5 lessons: Steady habits, honest confidence, and a writing life that lasts.
- Publishing & Contests, 5 lessons: Your poems deserve readers. Here is how to send them out with confidence.
- Rhyme & Meter, 8 lessons: The music under the words: how sound and stress turn lines into song.
- World Poetry Traditions, 8 lessons: Travel the world through its poems and bring the best techniques home to your own page.
- Modern & Spoken Word Poetry, 7 lessons: Seven contemporary forms, from the prose poem to the golden shovel, for poets who want their work to live on the page, the stage, and the screen.
- Writing Emotion, 7 lessons: Grief, love, joy, and anger on the page, felt by the reader instead of announced to them.
- Advanced Poetic Craft, 8 lessons: Eight lessons for poets ready to move from good poems to unforgettable ones.
- Revision Mastery, 6 lessons: The first draft is the discovery. Revision is the art.
- Performing Your Poetry, 6 lessons: Your poems have a voice. Learn to give it a body, a breath, and a room full of listeners.
- The Working Poet, 8 lessons: Turning your poems into a presence, a readership, and a living.
- Story Craft, 6 lessons: How short stories actually work: shape, people, prose, voice, and the ending that pays everything off.
Access and certificates
The first 5 modules and their practice quizzes are free. Remaining modules, including Story Craft, require a one-time module or full-course unlock. Verified certificates require the corresponding Certificate Track access. Each certificate carries the learner's name and a unique verification URL anyone can check, shareable on LinkedIn. Start at Writory Academy.
Common questions
Are the classes live or recorded?
Neither, and that is deliberate: they are written, self-paced lessons you can study at any hour, re-read, and finish in 8 to 10 minutes each. No timetable, no missed sessions, no lecture fatigue.
Will I get feedback on my poems?
Yes, on your actual poems: enter Writory's monthly contest and every poem receives a judged score out of 100 across five criteria. Detailed written feedback, with your own lines quoted back and specific fixes, is available as an add-on with your entry.
What is the time commitment?
One lesson is 8 to 10 minutes. The full curriculum is roughly 19 hours, and it waits for you: study daily, weekly, or in bursts before each month's contest deadline.
Do the classes cost anything?
The first five modules are free to read. The remaining modules require a one-time module or full-course unlock, which includes the corresponding quizzes and verified certificates. Contest entry for judged feedback on your poems is priced separately.
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 40 countries have entered, readers come from more than 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.