Playing with Poetry Masterclass: A Valentine to Your Environment

Join published poets Lisa Kelly and Patrizia Longhitano for a creative workshop to explore the many faces of love – love for people, love for nature, and love for the places that shape us. Through exploring inspiring poems (both written and visual), you’ll discover fresh ways to express appreciation for your surroundings. Then, guided by prompts, you’ll craft your own poems and fold an origami Valentine card filled with heartfelt lines dedicated to the world around you.

No experience needed. Whether you’re picking up a pen for the first time or you’re a seasoned writer, this is a chance to create something new in a relaxed, supportive space.

About the Artists

Lisa Kelly is a poet and editor based in London, and a 2025 Forward Prizes for Poetry judge. She has single-sided deafness, is half Danish, and has been learning British Sign Language (BSL) for several years. She co-edited What Meets the Eye: The Deaf Perspective (Arachne Press), an anthology of poems, short fiction and scripts from UK Deaf and Hard of Hearing writers. She is Chair of Magma Poetry and has co-edited four issues of the magazine. Her second collection, The House of the Interpreter (Carcanet), was a Poetry Book Society Summer Recommendation in 2023 and her first collection, A Map Towards Fluency (Carcanet), was shortlisted for the Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize 2021. She was shortlisted for the 2024 Forward Prizes for Best Single Poem – Written.

Patrizia Longhitano (she/her) is a pansexual Latinx immigrant poet and visual artist who lives in London. Some of her poems, performances, workshops and multimedia poetry installations have appeared different magazines, anthologies, festivals and art exhibitions. Since summer 2023, she has been the host of Venn Diagrams, a poetry event at the Torriano Meeting House. She co-edited Issue 90 Grassroots with Lisa Kelly. She is currently one of the organisers of BI+ Online Poets and BI+ London Poets groups.