Poetry and Me...

As anyone who knows me well will tell you, I don't write poetry. (I have read and enjoyed poetry by Byron, Keats, Tennyson and the occasional piece by Robert Frost.)

Now I admit I did try writing it last year. One of our best poets in the Writers' Club held a workshop to encourage more potential entrants to the monthly poetry competition.

I foolishly said I would try. Even more foolishly I promised that I would finish the poem and enter it into one of the 'open' category competitions that had a deadline of two months hence.

The entry went in and the judge made a few positive comments, but I think he was just trying to be encouraging- at least he didn't say it was rubbish...

Now you may wonder why I'm talking about poetry. Well tonight I am in the Chairman's seat at the writers' club, and the guest speaker is poet Carole Coates.

Viv, who arranged the booking, mentioned something about everyone needing pen and paper. I think there might be a practical element later in the evening.
As I will be sat beside the speaker I won't be able to hide, so I think I'd better quickly brush up on my poetry terminology. :-)

HOURS LATER...

I survived.

I enjoyed the readings, and then after the break we did a number of simple exercises. The free writing pieces did actually give me ideas and I'm sure once my brain has worked on the phrase I wrote- " The curse of DNA" I might be able to construct something. Though I suspect that will turn into a story-eventually.

But to be honest, I will never be a poet...

Workshop Details...

If you are within reasonable travelling distance of Nottingham you might be interested in an inexpensive workshop being hosted by Nottingham Writers' Club on Saturday 4th June 10am to 4pm.

Writer Michael Eaton will be leading the workshop. He is probably best known for his television work, including 'Shipman' and 'Shoot to Kill', but has written in many more areas. He's also the visiting Professor in the School of Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.

' If you've got a great idea for a piece of work but aren't sure what format it should be in, story, novel, radio play or film - this workshop is for you. Bring it along, talk about it for a few minutes and during the workshop you will get together with Michael and work out the best way to use it. By the end of the session, everyone will have gained experience on how to focus even the vaguest of ideas into a firm reality.'

I know there are still places available (limited) so if you want to attend then follow this link.

If you know anyone who might be interested then please pass the details on...

EDITED TO ADD- you don't need pages already written, an idea and some basic details can be enough.

As Monday is Spring Bank Holiday I'm going to be relaxing and catching up on my reading, so if it's a holiday where you are, I hope you enjoy it.