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Latest Articles
- Poetic Spirit in the City October 1, 2018
- Between Seasons August 31, 2018
- Encountering Animals at Frodsham April 21, 2018
- Dancing with Words at Hawarden February 27, 2018
- Words for Unwanted Journeys February 12, 2018
- New Year Resolve? December 29, 2017
- Chester Poets Visit the ARK October 1, 2017
- What would you do if…..? August 3, 2017
- View from Maggie’s: Writing at a Cancer Care Centre January 24, 2017
- All The Light We Cannot See December 5, 2016
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- Writing for Wellbeing (19)
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Calendar
Poetic Spirit in the City
It was Race Day in Chester in Saturday as we came together at Retreat House Chester for the more gentle pursuit of the poetic spirit.
Poetry and spirituality inhabit a common landscape. Derek Walcott, whose poem Love after Love was amongst those we read, has said, ‘I never separated the writing of poetry from prayer.…it is a vocation.’
The writer Mark Oakley comments that God gives us our being; w
Posted in Blog Posts, Creative Writing, Poetry, Spirituality
Tagged Chester, creative writing, Hafiz, poetry, Retreat, Richardson, Spirituality, Walcott, Zagajewski
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Between Seasons
When August is drawing to a close – particularly after the Bank Holiday – I always have a sense of the season starting to shift. The light becomes more tawny and slant; there’s a new chill in the breeze and the clear, light evenings of June have given way to twilight’s earlier curtain. It may not be Autumn quite yet, but it is no longer quite Summer.
Change is in the air. September brings the n
Posted in Writing for Wellbeing
Tagged John O'Donohue, liminal space, writing for wellbeing
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Encountering Animals at Frodsham
Animal Encounters was our theme for April’s Write for Growth at Castle Park Arts Centre, amid the stimulus of the annual exhibition of the Association of Animal Artists
This year’s exhibition is even more inspirational than last year, incorporating categories from Power and Pace of Life to Fragile World and Windows to the Soul. It’s on until mid-May, so do go and see it for yourself if you can.
We wrote about
Dancing with Words at Hawarden
Dear Body… be a bell that rings your presence, singles your space, O acolyte of days.…
These were words that flowed from my head down my arm and hand, through pen to paper, surprising my mind as my eyes read them back to me on the page. I was at poet Polly Atkins’ ‘Writing the Body’ Masterclass along with fourteen other bodies cosied round the large table in the Anwyl Room at Gladstone’s Library in Ha
Posted in Creative Writing, Poetry
Tagged body, creative writing, Gladstone's Library, poetry, Polly Atkin
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Words for Unwanted Journeys
It was only after I’d finished writing the poem that I realised: this would be the last one I would write about my mother.
From the time she had started to decline in health as Parkinson’s Disease advanced, I found some of the poems I wrote began to reflect this unwanted journey. I needed words to express the impact of what was happening on both our lives and our relationship.
The poems continued as I g
New Year Resolve?
At the turn of the year, thoughts can gravitate to the 3 Rs – Review, Reflection and Resolution.
Some make that third R a different one – Rebellion! Dissatisfied by the crash and burn of past years, they determine NOT to resolve anything, and so avoid the mid-January tail-spin into disappointment. I remember how every new ‘rough book’ of my schooldays, with its fresh, blank pages, inspired resoluti
Posted in Blog Posts, Counselling, Writing for Wellbeing
Tagged journaling, New Year Resolutions, review
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Chester Poets Visit the ARK
Over the summer, I’ve being doing some Tour Guiding for the wonderful ARK exhibition, hosted by Chester Cathedral. 90 ARK-themed sculptures inside and outside the building reflect a range of styles, subjects and materials. They represent the work of over 50 artists.
On Saturday, I took round a group of fellow Chester Poets. We engaged with these pieces together: looking and learning: discovering wh
Posted in Blog Posts, Creative Writing, Poetry
Tagged ARK, Chester Poets, creative writing, poetry
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What would you do if…..?
What would you do with one year left to live? Paul Kalanithi chose to write. The fruition of his choice is his first and only book: When Breath becomes Air.
The book is a memoir of his life journey from literature graduate to neurosurgeon, and from doctor to patient after a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer. It has become an international bestseller since its publication after the author’s death, aged 37, in 20
View from Maggie’s: Writing at a Cancer Care Centre
‘Sometimes I can see the hills of Wales…’ Paul reads his piece of free-writing in response to our Writing Group’s opening prompt: ‘Sometimes I can see..’ He describes, in attentive detail, a landscape he loves. Alan’s writing takes us into a different sort of seeing. He envisages a world beyond the troubles of this one, a world of pure peace, harmonious relationships, and an absence of illness and pai
Posted in Articles
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All The Light We Cannot See
‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you,’ said a smiling participant at last Saturday’s Write for Growth. ‘It’s that book you recommended. I stayed up half the night reading it. I was tired out the next day.’
She was referring to Anthony Doerr’s captivating novel ‘All the Light We Cannot See.’ It’s my favourite of the novels I’ve read this year, and I’ve been recommending it enthusiastically. So
