I sometimes ask participants to write down how they're feeling at the start of the session.
They
do this anonymously on pieces of paper which are collected in a
container, shaken up and then shared by writing them onto the board. This reduces anxiety for group members around sharing how they're feeling. It may also increase openness.
People may find they've used the same word or feeling as someone else.
The exercise encourages connection and understanding.It also acknowledges, validates and allows expression of the feelings in the room.
It makes me aware of the range of emotions which can be present in a workshop at any moment.
These were the feelings at the start of a creative writing workshop for parents of children with disabilities earlier this year.
Calm
Anxious
Scattered
Anticipating
Exposed
Wonderful
Excited
Relaxed
Writing in Response to Other People's Stories
This post relates to the first of several I've written over the summer inspired by current news topics.
Weymouth Harbour Bridge
The inspiration was the release of the film Dunkirk and it's link to Weymouth. It brought to mind a story my cousin Keith told me about his Mum.
Keith messaged me recently. He'd been in Dublin staying with his friend Padriac. He said, "I
told him the story of my Mum's golden rose necklace from the Dunkirk
evacuation. He wrote this poem for me after
seeing a picture of it and I think it's wonderful!"
Thanks for sharing your story Keith and Mum, Betty. And thanks to Padraic for writing and sharing your poem:
A French Rose for an English Girl
He kissed the ground
he kissed the air.
He waved to strangers on the shore
there greeting him, as he arrived
in Weymouth from Dunkirk.
The French arrived without their boots
from bloody fields in Normandy,
grateful to be saved
from death, by tiny boats.
My mother stood above the rail
and saw survivors climb to land
from baby ships that risked their lives,
to pluck the French from German hands.
But a girl of fourteen years
she still recalls as if last week,
the soldier who threw this gift
a bracelet that she holds today.
A dainty silver rose
his precious chain - who knows?
To an English girl in a Weymouth crowd
a Dorset rose today.
Why do we kill those we do not know?
Why to stranger do we throw
our dearest charm in life? -
To the young English girl who
became my father's wife.
Each week during the Summer I'll be taking a topical news item as writing inspiration and going with the flow...
Week 5
Inspiration: May Morris's diary
The childhood diary of May Morris has been discovered, together with letters she wrote to her mother Jane, in an unlabelled box at The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow.
May was the youngest of two daughter's of William Morris. Her diary throws light onto a privileged and unusual Victorian childhood.
Last year I led creative writing workshops as part of a Heritage Lottery project linking William Morris and Emery Walker. Through the project I learnt about the lives of these men, their families, friends, passions and disputes. They were great friends and lived near to each other overlooking the Thames close to Hammersmith Bridge.
Eight year old May Morris was writing her diary in 1870 - a turbulent time in the marriage of her parents. Her mother Jane was a great beauty and the muse and lover of the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William's friend. Morris knew about the situation but it seemed did nothing to prevent it rather he appeared to facilitate it by removing himself and going on holiday.
In the diary May describes herself as, "very untidy and always very dirty and sometimes I am ashamed to say very naughty." Keeping a diary is a great way to express yourself on the page as May freely did, noting her opinions and feelings. She described returning to London after a holiday away as arriving, "at this most detestable city under the sun."
May went on to develop a career in arts and crafts primarily as an embroiderer and textile artist. She also employed other women in the sewing and production of her designs.
The exhibition May Morris: Art and Life is at the William Morris Gallery from 7 October 2017 - 28 January 2018
Each week during the Summer I'll be taking a topical news item as writing inspiration and going with the flow...
Week 4
Inspiration: The 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana
Where were you when you heard Princess Diana had died?
I was in Dieppe. On the ferry back a couple of days later we were at the news stand looking at the front pages covered in photos of her. A man walked up and asked, "What - has she died?" I replied, "Yes she's died." I was still in shock and he wandered away stunned not having heard the news while he was on holiday.
The
documentary 7 Days screened on BBC1 this week was a moving account of
the period after Diana‘s death. I remember that week in London, the atmosphere was heavy as though the sky all grey and cloudfilled wouldn't let the grief evaporate.
The programme also looked at her life and the pressures
she experienced. I hadn't fully realised the attempts to sideline her during her life but was aware of a quietness about her since her death, as though to downplay or negate her power.
I see her retrospectively more fully as a woman challenging the establishment. She took on a huge task - whether it was completely conscious or not - and could not have foreseen all the ramifications it would have for her.
Diana was obviously angry but she was also strong in the things she believed in and what she felt to be right:
- Being a loving and good enough parent to her children
- Her public charitable works
- Her determination to be seen and to individualise herself through her choice of dress, men and relationship to those who were suffering
- Being real
When I hear establishment figures talk of Diana as complex and complicated I feel this is an attempt to dismiss her and the things she believed in. Because aren’t we all complex? Calling others complex as though it’s a bad thing not only reduces their humanity but all of ours.
How Diana was treated in her marriage and after her divorce are feminist issues which resonate around the world today in other women’s experiences when they challenge the dominant culture and do not conform.
I really like this poem by Vanessa Kissuule Take Up Space - it's empowering and speaks especially to women to take up space to be themselves.
Each week during the rest of the Summer I'm taking a topical news item as writing inspiration and going with the flow...
Week 1
Inspiration: The film Dunkirk
Recently, I went to see the film Dunkirk drawn by an overheard snippet of conversation about location filming in Dorset. I was born in Dorchester and spent the first seven years of my life there. It's a soft, rolling, rural county with a beautiful coast line and I love it.
The film has three distinct story strands. One involves an older man and his son setting sail in their small vessel from Weymouth to Dunkirk, answering the call to assist with the evacuation of 400,000 service men stranded on the beach in France.
My cousin told me a story about his Mum which links to this. One evening in 1940, Betty aged thirteen, travelled from Dorchester with her parents to watch the small boats carrying evacuated soldiers arrive into Weymouth harbour.
The three of them were leaning over the rail near the town bridge watching as French soldiers were unloaded on to the steps below. They noticed how war worn, dishevelled and emotional the soldiers were - kissing the ground as they came ashore and throwing their personal belongings towards the watching crowd.
One soldier threw this necklace and it landed at Betty's feet. She's kept it ever since.
I wonder what happened to that soldier? I hope he recovered from his war experiences.
See the film - it is an immersive experience and as such provides the smallest glimpse into what they went through.
As part of National Writing Day - a First Story initiative in partnership with other arts and literary organisations - the writing group I work with in Newham wrote from the suggested inspiration: The View From My Window...
Two participants wanted to share their writing:
From my bedroom window I see beautiful gardens - my garden and my neighbours, especially at night time with the solar lights' many colours. I see foxes passing by walking without fear of people. Later in the afternoon I see swallows dancing and singing in the sky - when I'm sad they give a smile to me.
By Teresa
The view from my window: As I open the curtains in the morning I hear the birds chirping away. As I glance through the net curtains I see Budda sitting silently in perfect harmony; the cherry tree's branches swaying softly.
My eyes hover over the flower beds where the marigolds sit next to the carnations in full bloom. The vibrational colours of the dahlias put a smile on my face and the red climbing roses rise high above the conifers. I look towards the sky, the pastel shades of blue are interrupted by the white streaks of the aeroplane's fumes. The pigeons and magpies are on a hunt to find food.
My cat appears chasing the birds away and then, finding a shady place, he stretches himself and falls asleep. A new day has begun...
By Narinder
Hidden Stories creative writing is now available on the Arts and Crafts Hammersmith website. It's inspired by the stories around 7 Hammersmith Terrace and the people who lived there, their friends and colleagues.
The writing is by year 8 and 9 students at Fulham Cross Girls' School. It was produced during eight workshops held after school in 2016. Inspirations came from artefacts, original diary entries and letters, a visit to the house, improvisation, sounds, and our own stories around the journeys we've made.
Thanks to Amie, Holly, Nabilla, Noor, Shahida, Siobhan, Yara, Uriela, Victoria and Wadad for the stories they wrote; thank you to Fulham Cross, for hosting the workshops and teachers Amy Barlow and Anna Michanou for their support.
This coincides with the reopening of 7 Hammersmith Terrace - the Arts and Crafts home of Emery Walker until 1933 which was preserved by his daughter, Dorothy and her companion Elizabeth de Haas, exactly as he had lived in it.
The house overlooks the Thames just along from Hammersmith bridge towards Chiswick. It is of interest because of its decor and because of Emery Walker's friendship with William Morris who lived nearby and whose designs are present in the wallpaper, furniture, art and rugs. It's well worth a visit!
