Poetry workshop

All fired up to write more as once again I have been to a poetry workshop run by poet Ian Parks, who is from Mexborough, in Yorkshire, UK. Two or three years ago I attended a workshop run by him primarily for writing students in Adult Education in the area and it was so good and such fun I was keen to try again. Poetry comes second with me to writing prose - mainly short stories - but I do enjoy trying my hand at poetry.

I particularly liked writing in response to photographs that were on the wall in the Flux Gallery, in Leeds, where the workshop was held. I now have six words with which to play around with and make a 'finished' poem.

The Inklets writing group in Leeds had organised this workshop and my aim is to send them something for their 2009 published collection. Though they gave me a web address I cannot get it work at the moment, but you can find something about them via http://www.literaturetraining.com

Poetry apart I want to try to write a finished story -and haven't yet started - by the end of March for the Calderdale Libraries competition. Watch this space!

Haikus, sonnets, limericks and teaching

This photo is a structure in my local park - I like the pseudo-Japanese style.

Conventional thinking tells us that a woman who has children is faced with more obstacles to writing. In my case it made me more conscious of how little time I had for myself so I was really going to take my writing time more seriously! Since my early teens I'd enjoyed writing stories and had done bits on and off over the years. I was 40 when I had my son, and did not have a partner to share the care. I continued teaching, mainly Literacy but eventually was offered some creative writing teaching. It did what I hoped it might: got my own creative juices flowing.

The last few weeks the students - all adults - have been tackling Haikus, some rhymes, limericks and some may have a go at sonnets!

I've only got as far as producing this limerick, which uses the classic rhyming scheme of a a b b a though, with my critic's hat on, needs more humour!

There once was a girl from Yorkshire

who to singing did always aspire.

She let out a scream.

It was less than supreme

and she didn't get a place in the choir.