Poetry in St Ives

Evening all!  Today I suddenly remembered it is already June and I need to crack on with advertising the next Residential Poetry Course that I’m running with the wonderful Clare Shaw as co-tutor this October.  I can’t believe how quickly this has come round. Apparently about a third of the places have gone already and I am expecting the places to go quite quickly so if you are thinking of coming, get in touch with the hotel and book a place – contact details below.

‘The Call of the Tide’ Residential Poetry Course,
Treloyhan Manor Hotel, St Ives, Cornwall,
27th- 30th October 2014
Course Leaders: Kim Moore and Clare Shaw
Come and join us for a week of workshops, discussions and readings.  The theme of the week will be ‘The Call of the Tide’.  In the beautiful setting of St Ives and surrounded on three sides by the sea, we will explore how encounters with the tide, the coast and the forces of nature can inspire and inform our writing.  There will be two mystery guest poets who join us mid week and time for one-to-one tutorials.

For more information or to book please go to the Treloyhan Manor Hotel website: http://www.christianguild.co.uk/treloyhan/interestbreaks.php

Alternatively you can ring the hotel directly on 01736 796240

There are limited numbers and we are expecting the course to be full, so please book your place early to avoid disappointment

Draft Timetable

Monday 27th October
2.30pm-5pm –Workshop with Clare Shaw and Kim Moore
“What the Tide Brings In” –
As we set sail on five days of creative discovery and development, we’ll meet and greet our fellows travellers in this introductory session. We’ll also start to explore the forces that flow through poetry; and to establish how we’ll discover and develop those throughout the week.  

8pm – Evening Reading in the lounge
Bring a favourite poem to share with the group, written by somebody else.

Tuesday 28th October

10am-1pm – Morning Workshop with Clare Shaw
“What the Water Gave Me”
Inspired by the ocean and what it offers, we’ll examine the principles of powerful language at work in contemporary poetry, and at how we can put them into practice in our writing.

3pm-5pm – Afternoon Workshop with Kim Moore
‘I need the sea because it teaches me’ – Pablo Neruda – Tuesday afternoon workshop with Kim
What has the sea taught us, and what is there left still to learn?  What can we learn from the people/fish/birds/animals/lighthouses/rocks/the moon/the stars/inanimate objects that make their home in or near the sea? We will attempt to answer these questions with poems, which will hopefully leave us with more questions than we started with…

8pm – Poetry Reading in the Lounge with Kim Moore and Clare Shaw
Wednesday 29th October
10am-1pm Morning Workshop with Clare Shaw and Kim Moore –
“The Edges of the Tide” –
From Arnold via Larkin to Oswald and beyond, poetry is created where ocean meets land. Following in their footsteps (weather allowing), we’ll take our inspiration from the extraordinary human and physical landscapes of the coast, and create some poetry of our own.

Free Afternoon – Tutorials available – participants to sign up at the beginning of the week

8pm – Poetry Reading in the lounge with two Mystery Guests

Thursday 30th October
10am-1pm – Morning Workshop  with Kim Moore
Stories of the Tide – Thursday morning workshop with Kim
The ocean plays a central role in the stories and myths that we tell ourselves.  The sea is a part of many idioms and phrases in language.  How can we use these myths, stories and phrases to enrich our own poetry? 

3-5pm – Afternoon Workshop  with Clare Shaw
“its always our self we find in the sea”: …. the ocean, the voyage and and lifewriting.
Ocean is one of the richest sources of metaphor. Whether literally or metaphorically, we’ll go beachcombing and find some version of ourselves to write about. 

Optional “Page to stage: performing your poetry” from 5-6pm with Clare Shaw

8pm – Poetry Reading in the lounge by Course Participants –
A chance for participants to read poems written on the course, or work they have brought along with them.

31st October
10am-1pm – Morning Workshop- with Clare Shaw/Kim Moore
A chance to bring a poem for feedback from the group and the tutors.  This can be a poem you have written on the course or one you have brought from home.