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Latest Articles
- Reading As Above So Below April 18, 2019
- Journalling into 2019 February 2, 2019
- Coffee with a Poem December 19, 2018
- Poetic Spirit in the City October 1, 2018
- Between Seasons August 31, 2018
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Reading As Above So Below
‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ So says Shakespeare’s Hamlet to his friend, shaken by the sight of Hamlet’s father’s ghost.
As Above So Below is a new online magazine dedicated to poetry in the territory of these ‘more things.’ It explores themes of spirituality and is initiated and edited by poet and creative writing practitioner Be
Posted in Poetry
Tagged As Above So Below, Bethany Rivers, Creative, poetry, Spiritual
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Journalling into 2019
Write for Growth’s New Year, New Journal Workshop at Gladstone’s Library on a January Saturday always draws a full house. We gathered to explore fresh angles on journalling our way through 2019. Making space to write is one thing, but once we’ve done that, we can find another gap – between our desire to write and actually putting words on a page. Closing that gap can be a challenge for every writer.
Coffee with a Poem
‘It’s all about how we have choices,’ said a Write for Growth participant, as we looked at this poem under our workshop theme Space and Light. See what you think over a cup of coffee as we sit down with Naomi Shihab Nye’s ‘The Art of Disappearing.’
The Art of Disappearing
When they say Don’t I know you?
say no.
When they invite you to the party
remember what parties are like
before an
Posted in Poetry
Tagged Naomi Shihab Nye, poetry, The Art of Disappearing, therapy, writing for wellbeing
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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 Poetry
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 Prompts
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 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
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
