No Holds Poetics
A Writing School That Gives a S***
No Holds offers everything an MFA does, without the impossible cost barrier, quiet policing, and dulled-down conformity | Stop playing safe and start playing with your own strange genius
Workshops & Seminars | Online Courses Editorial Feedback | Publication Assistance
Excellent & Imperfect
No Holds Poetics does not coddle. You come here to achieve mastery, not to blend in, play safe, or perfect the same old techniques.
Risk-taking & bombast over polished MFA veneer
Memetic & Magnetic
Poetry has been locked in obscurity for decades: exclusive, uninteresting and inaccessible to the general population
Our mission is to create works that transcend academia and reach out to the broader population ~ Groundbreaking, Magnetic, and Inevitable
Unsympathetic
Too often poets rush to flaunt, perfect, and aggrandize but great poetry works because it reveals something difficult, hidden, raw, and generally not talked about. It is the place where we can see our own ugliness revealed in another and discover that we are not alone in our darkness.
Poetry Workshop
Join a group of poets from around the world in one of Robin Richardson’s infamous poetry workshops. We open with a poem for inspiration and discussion, then dig into one another’s work with structured feedback. No egos
April 15th
6pm EST
ZOOM
$65
Writing Consultation
Need a perspective shift or swift kick in the butt?
Submit a 7-pages of your work for comprehensive notes, line-edits, and a clear path forward
$250
Poetry Manuscript Mentorship
Robin Richardson will guide you all the way from rough draft to masterpiece
Two rounds of notes and line edits on up to 70 pages
Help finding and securing the right publisher for your work + funding help if in Canada
Two phone calls (all your questions answered)
Vision & concept direction
Top priority and quick turnaround. Robin is extremely responsive when mentoring. Your success is her success
Limited spots per year \ approved projects only. Email contact@Robinrichardson.ca to apply. Fiction and non-fiction can be negotiated
$2500
The History of Humanity in Verse
A comprehensive course with downloadable PDF, audio lectures, and worksheet
$45
T E S T I M O N I A L S
Robin Richardson might be the most artistically courageous person I know. She never settles in her practice or shies away from what her work demands of her. If a hint of these qualities rubs off on her students, they will be extremely well served.” -
Mark Truscott
“My collection won two awards from the US and was nominated for the Governor General’s literary award. All thanks to the Almighty above and you. I always remember you with gratitude and love.”
Rummana Chowdhury
You're brilliant. Thank you so much for your comments. I felt really rigid about the whole thing, editing these poems felt like trying to smooth wet cement into pavement with my hands. Your notes gave me perspective -- I know that through incorporating them, on top of deepening the poems themselves, I will learn to be a better poet. I've been going through them all afternoon, thinking about different ways to apply your advice.
- Willow Loveday little
“I feel utterly emptied and rejuvenated. That was absolutely life-changing. Perfect timing, and your guidance was invaluable. I love feeling so empowered and focused on what to do next. Thank you thank you thank you”
Anne-lise Jasinski
“I've had the benefit of Robin Richardson's amazing amount of knowledge about the publishing world and have been really wanting to take her many workshops, I know the impact she's had on so many new and established poets.”
— Charlie Petch
I cherish my workshop days with Robin. Everyone in her cosy living room seemed poised to do their best work. Her encouragement, insights and editorial suggestions helped me make the CBC longlist and get a book published with Quattro Books. Robin honours the process, as she honours you as a writer and person.
Siobhan Jamison
Your Instructor
Robin Richardson is an award-winning Canadian Poet and essayist. She has over 20 years of experience teaching and editing students who go on to claim their own place in the literary landscape.
She was the founder of Minola Review and the author of four collections of poetry, including the Trillium and ReLit Award-winning Sit How You Want. She holds an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawerence College where she was the recipient of the Joan T Baldwin and John B. Santoianni Awards. Her work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, APR, Tin House, Salon, Hazlitt and others and she is also a MacDowell, Burton House, and Doris McCarthy Fellow
Robin is known for concise and unflinching work.
She will hold you to a standard that unlocks hidden genius and opens doors you never knew existed.