Hidden Stories Creative Writing Project

A year or so ago Arts and Crafts Hammersmith - a partnership of the William Morris Society and Emery Walker Trust  - was successful in securing Heritage Lottery funding for a programme of repairs, refurbishments and improvements to Emery Walker’s home at 7 Hammersmith Terrace and William Morris's Kelmscott House. Both houses look onto the Thames just beyond Hammersmith Bridge and are a ¼ mile away from each other.  

The two men were great friends and worked together on The Kelmscott Press. The HLF funding includes initiatives to encourage local community participation in activities designed to deepen knowledge about their lives, work, interests and relationships. 

In early November, I began work on the Hidden Stories Creative Writing Project  in collaboration with Amy Barlow, year 8 and 9 students at Fulham Cross Girls' School and Simon Daykin from Arts and Crafts Hammersmith. Together we're discovering the stories the houses hold, and through learning about the characters who lived and visited there, we're writing stories both true and imagined. 

These include the stories of Dorothy Walker, Emery Walker's daughter, and Elizabeth de Haas, her Dutch companion, who lived at 7 Hammersmith Terrace and preserved the house as it was when Emery Walker lived there.  It's completely due to the work of these two women (who died in 1963 and 1997) that the house has been preserved as the last surviving example of an authentic Arts and Crafts interior in Britain.

Ms Barlow with FCGS students on the Hidden Stories project
 

Sussex Poets competition 2

I was thrilled to receive 2nd prize for my poem Teatime at The Clarkes, in the Sussex Poets Competition, judged by Clare Best and hosted by Brighton and Hove Arts Council recently.

Afterwards in the pizza place with some bubbly

 

The Awards evening in September was a really enjoyable event with readings by eleven shortlisted poets culminating in a rather exciting reverse order announcement of the prize winners.

Congratulations to Nichola May who got first prize with her poem Bubbles. You can read all the poems here

Teatime at the Clarkes

When Mr Clarke
calls my sister fat,

time ticks slowly
on the big clock.

The sun throws shadows
round the sundial.

Red Admirals freeze 
with their wings shut tight,

flying ants crawl into cracks
and cacti prickle.

Mrs Clarke pours scalding tea
and teacups in their saucers wobble,

and no one
has an appetite for cake. 

by Christine Hollywood

 

Sussex Poets Competition 1

I was thrilled to get an email from the 2015 Sussex Poets Competition run by Brighton and Hove Arts Council to say I'd made the shortlist with my poem

Teatime at the Clarkes.

I don't know which prize but they're being announced on Friday 25th September at the Awards Evening. I'll add the poem here afterwards.

This is a welcome boost, as any writer knows, and especially as I've been concentrating on developing my own writing lately. 

I also attended a poetry course with the poet John McCullough recently. John's tuition is excellent and I learn a lot.

Writing for Wellbeing Sussex is a recently established group interested in writing and poetry for its creative, fun, health and wellbeing benefits.

We've begun to meet every couple of months upstairs at the Hop and Vine in Fiveways, Brighton. The format is flexible and ranges from writing together to discussing our work to planning events. Do get in contact if you'd like to come along to a meeting. The next one is on 1st October.

One of the events we're planning is Ted Bowman's  visit to Brighton on Saturday, 26 September, from 10 am - 2pm. Ted is a poet and editor who uses literary resources in his work in loss and grief.  He is a long-time resource for Lapidus and a former board member of the National Association for Poetry Therapy. He lives in Minnesota, USA.

This year Ted will use prompts and guided discussions to explore the theme of Belonging and its implications for life and work.

"Belonging is an evocative and multi-meaning word.  Whether used as a noun, ...a verb, even metaphorically, belonging often links heart and head.  To fit in, to be a part of, to be the property of…close, secure relationships…belonging can mean many things.  Opportunities to explore meanings can be important, stimulating and clarifying. In this experiential session, participants will be invited to explore the layers of meaning the word belonging evokes."  Ted Bowman

Places for this workshop are limited. 

If you'd like to book a place:

e: writewordwell@gmail.com

m: 0777 3379 526

Cost: £25, Lapidus members £15

At Ty Newydd Writers Centre

I arrived in a sea fog which made the beach invisible and muted the sounds of Easter Monday holiday makers. Thereafter it was a perfectly sunny, warm week at the The Nawe / Lapidus Writing Retreat at Ty Newydd Writers Centre in North Wales - ripe for gentle distraction activities like winding the coastal path to Crricieth.

I was co-hosting the Retreat this year with Nawe's Chair Liz Cashdan. It's essentially an unstructured opportunity to get away from everything and write. The environment is calm and conducive with delicious and healthy meals provided (all dietary requirements catered for!) by Gwynn and Erin who live on site, and a congenial office staff on hand to help with anything from printing to taxis and local info.

Optional workshops were also available including one on poetry and a novel writing workshop from a published author.   

Liz and I also offered one to ones which allowed time for individual participants to explore aspects of writing and writing for wellbeing.

A highlight of the week was the visit from Jill Teague of Lapidus, who lives nearby in the North Wales forest, to facilitate her Writing in Nature workshop. This gave us an opportunity to focus on the landscape around the centre, encounter nature and its inhabitants and process the experience in writing and words.

Robert Graves' The Welsh Incident begins with the lines


‘But that was nothing to what things came out
From the sea-caves of Criccieth yonder.’

The Retreat is held each year in April at Ty Newydd.  More details are available from Nawe.