“Poetry is an investigation, not an expression, of what you know.”
– Mark Doty
WORKSHOPS
I have extensive experience in teaching / training, and have run poetry workshops for Moor Poets, a Devon-based poetry organisation, of which I’m a member. I’m available to offer workshops for groups of adults (up to 12), but in the current circumstances of lockdown, it’s likely that future workshops will be offered online (through Zoom) until further notice. Please contact me through the Contact page if you would like further information.
Talking with the Dead – an intriguing title for a workshop. This was one of Sue’s workshops so I knew this would be a fascinating and productive day as we considered the emotional, physical and mysterious effects of death.
Her meticulous pre-planning of her workshops took us from a writing exercise, exploring with us our own attitudes to death, on through the reading and short discussion of a dozen poems (authors’ names not given and so more surprising when revealed). Interlaced with such amazing words were our own efforts at talking with our personal dead.
I came away from the workshop with the bones of five poems, all of which I have worked on since. Perhaps more importantly I learnt to look at death and to talk to the dead without fear.
(workshop participant, October 2019)
Sue has a kindness and a willingness to help friends which makes her a sympathetic, creative writing and poetry tutor. She creates a warm and relaxed atmosphere when taking a group that enables poets to develop their writing with confidence. I’m sure she will be a great success with any group.
(workshop participant, October 2019)