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The Russet Collective Enquire Now

The Russet Collective

Blog: literature, language and learning

A space for reading beyond the syllabus. Poets and their poems, revision and technique, translation, and a monthly book club that readers choose. Written by Leah, and open to argument in the comments.

Start with the first post

Written by Leah Burgess, Academic Director.

What to expect

Four posts a month, one a week.

Week 1

A poet's life, context and influences

Biography, the history around the writing, and who they were reading. Alternates with theatre and playwrights every other month.

Week 2

Miscellany — readers set the subject

Revision strategies, Oxbridge mock interview advice, reading lists of secondary criticism, translation theory, exam technique. Requests open.

Week 3

One poem, read closely

A single poem answered against a question posed at the top of the piece. The fortnightly pair to Week 1.

Week 4

Book Club

One novel, its themes and the criticism around it. Readers vote on the following month's book and send questions a week ahead.

Everything so far

Posts, newest first.

Each post has its own page, and each one is open for comment. Leah reads every comment before it appears and answers underneath.

The newsletter

One email a month, and nothing else.

A short letter when the month's posts are up: what has been written, what the Book Club is reading, and the exam dates worth having in the diary. Written by Leah.

The newsletter is written for parents, teachers and readers — adults. It is not a mailing list for students, and we do not ask a child to subscribe.

One email a month, unsubscribe in one click from any of them, and the address is used for nothing else. We never pass it on, and we do not add enquiries to this list — subscribing is something you do on purpose or not at all. How we handle it.

The blog is free. The teaching is the other thing.

If you have found your way here from a poem and would like your child taught the same way — English Language, English Literature, Spanish or French, at GCSE or A-Level — that is what The Russet Collective does the rest of the week.

Enquire Now

Six questions, about a minute. Or just keep reading — nobody is chased for anything here.