A week writing poems while absorbing the landscape and resonant stories of Ventenac's World Heritage canal
Our course will explore the Canal du Midi that runs close by the Chateau. We will examine its splendid seventeenth-century engineering and structures in situ. You will be given maps, plans, documents in translation, that tell the canal's fascinating history -- a rich store to generate new work. In daily workshops you will draw inspiration from your immediate surroundings, while also learning the techniques of writing -- vividly and memorably -- about place and landscape
A Word from Maurice Riordan:
‘In this course we'll explore ways to make your poems memorable – to make every line fresh and vivid, and right to the ear. I will set writing exercises each day based on examples by contemporary poets. You’re likely to find that these exercises generate a lot of creative thinking and they will enlarge your sense of what’s possible when writing a poem. I will give individual feedback and advice on revision – as well as conducting group discussion and workshops. You should bring along some of your favourite poems as well as examples of your own work – and you can look forward to an adventurous week.’
There will be a maximum of 10 participants.
Please bring plenty of writing materials, notebooks and loose sheets of A4 paper, and a laptop computer if you have one. As well as your own poems, bring a few poems or a book by a published poet or two whose work you find interesting, as there’ll be an opportunity to include in some of the evening readings poems by others as well as your own.
About Maurice:
Maurice is an award-winning poet whose poetry is published by Faber. Born in rural Co. Cork, in Ireland, he lived in Canada and Spain before settling in London. Until recently he was the poetry editor of Poetry London, where he was known for publishing the poems of new poets alongside those of famous names. He has also edited several anthologies concerned with science and ecology.
He is much admired as an incisive and attentive poetry tutor, who has helped many poets to achieve publication and some indeed national recognition. For ten years he ran the poetry workshop at Morley College in London. He also taught at Goldsmiths College and Imperial College, and now teaches on the Writing MA at Sheffield Hallam University. He’s given many courses for the Arvon Foundation and the Poetry School, and has tutored in Ireland, Malta, and North America.
His principal books are A Word from the Loki (1995), which was a Poetry Book Society Choice and nominated for the T. S. Eliot Prize. His next collection, Floods (2000), was a ‘Book of the Year’ in the Sunday Times and the Irish Times, and shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award. His most recent book, The Holy Land, received the Michael Hartnett Award in 2007. He has also published Confidential Reports, translations from the Maltese of Immanuel Mifsud (Southword Editions, 2005), and for children The Moon Has Written You a Poem , which is adapted from the Portuguese of José Letria (Winged Chariot, 2005). |
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About Andrew
Andrew is a specialist in historic landscapes and gardens, and the interfaces between art and nature. He has lectured on landscape and literature at the University of Wales and elsewhere and worked as a consultant to English Heritage, the Belgian Government, and private and corporate clients. He is the co-founder of the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
He has taught horticulture and led study tours to historic gardens for many years, especially in Italy. At the age of 16, he won a national prize for his poetry, and in 2010 was shortlisted for the Picador Poetry Prize. He believes that identity in places and people gathers substance as by sedimentation. He is currently dredging the Canal du Midi's metaphoric overburden for the sake of poems and connectedness. |
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Fee £595 all inclusive for the week in a shared room (Excluding flights)
£150 supplement for single room
£450 for non participating partners
Places are limited click here to book your place now
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