No Holds Poetry School
STOP PLAYING SMALL AND START PLAYING WITH YOUR OWN STRANGE BRILLIANCE
Your MFA Alternative with Style
No Holds offers everything your MFA does without the impossible cost barrier, quiet policing, and sub-par standards
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
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
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.
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 not hold your hand, but she will hold you to a standard that unlocks hidden genius and opens doors you never knew existed.
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
Thank you so much for your work! I’m so grateful that the universe put you in my path.
Andy
My closest friends and family members reap the benefits of all your guidance and shared experience. It’s like a ripple in a pond and it reaches so far! -
Abigayl Medina
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
Become a Member
For unlimited annual access to courses & workshops, discounted and/or free swag and editorial services, and more ongoing perks
