Georgia's Poetry Workshop

S2 E8: Acrostic Secrets

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 18:34:06 GMT

Writing an acrostic, with help from a poem by Patience Agbabi.

References: 'Invisible Ink' from Bloodshot Monochrome by Patience Agbabi. Music by GC O'Hare and Portamento.

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S2 E6: Writing Magical Realism Poems

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 13:17:05 GMT

Writing magical realism poems! References: 'A Boat' by Richard Brautigan. Music by GC O'Hare (intro) and Portamento (outro).

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S2 E5: Writing the Storm

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 12:45:02 GMT

A poem and writing prompt about the weather! References: 'Wind' by Ted Hughes from New Selected Poems 1957-1994. Music: Intro by GC O'Hare, Outro by Portamento.

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S2 E4: Writing festivals

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 04:35:48 GMT

A poetry prompt for writing about celebratory festivals.

References: 'Mid-Autumn Moon Festival' in Magnolia by Nina Mingya Powles.

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S2 E3: Writing Autumn; in memory of Louise Glück

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:32:21 GMT

I read and discuss Glück's poetry and an excerpt from one of her essays, and give a poetry prompt to start your own poem.

References: 'Proofs and Theories' and 'To Autumn' by Louise Glück.

Music by GC O'Hare and Portamento.

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S2 E2: Writing cinematic poems, inspired by Joelle Taylor and Vicki Feaver

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 13:33:15 GMT

I discuss Joelle Taylor's philosophy of cinematic poetry and use Vicki Feaver's work as an example.

References: 'The Handless Maiden' by Vicki Feaver from The Handless Maiden / Music by GC O'Hare and Portamento.

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New Season! Writing poems worth wearing

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:45:18 GMT

The first of the autumn/winter 10 week series! Write a poem today with a prompt you could dress up in.

References: 'Your One Good Dress' by Brenda Shaughnessy from Liquid Flesh.

Music by GC O'Hare (Intro) and Portamento (Outro).

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Clinging to the past: using dust to write poems

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 09:42:30 GMT

I discuss how we might use dusty objects in the house to write meaningful poetry.

References: 'Sunflower Sutra' by Allen Ginsberg from Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems. Music: Intro: GC O'Hare. Outro: Portamento.

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Waking up: using dreams to write poems

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 11:26:18 GMT

I discuss how each poem is a movement from unconsciousness into consciousness.

References: 'The Bull' by Vicki Feaver from The Book of Blood. Music by GC O'Hare and Portamento.

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Using symbols to share secrets

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 02:30:43 GMT

I discuss how we might use specific images to share secrets.

References: 'The Pond' by Vicki Feaver from The Book of Blood / 'Toads' by Vanessa Lampert from 'On Long Loan'. Music by GC O'Hare and Portamento.

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Beyond ourselves: writing biographical poems

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 12:57:10 GMT

After a trip to the Wordsworth Trust, I discuss the impact of biography on our poetry.

References: 'Expostulation and Reply / The Tables Turned: an evening scene, on the same subject' by William Wordsworth and 'Thursday 29th April 1802' (journal entry) by Dorothy Wordsworth, in Romanticism: An Anthology 4th Edn. Ed by Duncan Wu. Music by George Clarke and Portamento.

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Liminality in poetry: writing first lines

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 03:03:27 GMT

I discuss liminal states of being/in creativity, and how this can help us with first lines.

References: 'Heaven, it must be heaven' by Rachel Long in Butcher's Dog issue 9 (2017). Music by George Clarke and Portamento.

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Writing Instruction Poems

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 11:02:17 GMT

I talk about poems that instruct our reader... and cockney rhyming slang.

References: 'Pawnbroking for Beginners' by Chrissie Gittins in Obsessed with Pipework issue 103 / 'Instructions on How to Leave a Town' by Gabriel Jesiolowski. Music by George Clarke (Intro) and Portamento (Outro).

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Writing poems in second person perspective

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 03:09:42 GMT

Second person perspective!

References: 'Void' by Louise Glück from Poems 1962-2020 / 'Plans for a Future Romance' by Emily Berry from Dear Boy.

Music by Portamento.

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Pub poems: writing about meaningful spaces

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 17:29:01 GMT

A short episode. I discuss community spaces and share some Keats.

References: 'Lines on The Mermaid Tavern' by John Keats in Poems of London (Everyman's Library). Music by Portamento.

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Cabbage Image

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 02:31:47 GMT

I chat about cabbage poems and give a first-line prompt.

References: 'The Vegetable Garden and the Runaway Horse' from Some More of Me Poetry by Pam Ayres / 'Skunk Cabbage' from The Stone Age by Jen Hadfield / 'If the Night Could Get Up & Walk' and 'One Must Try Behind the Hills' by Jonathan Williams from 'Beat' Poets selected by Gene Baro. Music by Portamento.

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Rilke and Writing Meditative Poems

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 18:36:43 GMT

I discuss allergies and Rilke and give a meditative poetry prompt.

References: 'Duino Elegies' - Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by David Young.

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Writing Retellings and TV Inspirations

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:28:01 GMT

I discuss how we can be inspired to write by creative TV shows and retelling stories.

References: 'Glow Up' - Netflix / 'Fat Alice' in Be Feared by Jane Burn.

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V is for Vulnerability - writing poems in fear

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 02:08:57 GMT

I discuss how I spent the weekend facing my writing fears and how it changed everything.

References: 'Caddisfly Larvae' from Ephemeron by Fiona Benson. Music by Portamento.

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How close readings inspire new writing: The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 07:38:17 GMT

I do a close-reading of The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop and talk about how we might use it as a writing prompt.

References: 'The Fish' from Complete Poems by Elizabeth Bishop; The Art of Description by Mark Doty; Conversations with Elizabeth Bishop ed. by George Monteiro

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Writing Single Stanza Poems

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:18:21 GMT

I discuss how we might use single stanza poems and go on a tangent about how city environments are created to threaten us with violence.

References: 'Farther' in Skirrid Hill by Owen Sheers / 'Checkout' in The Air Year by Caroline Bird / 'Baby' and 'Snake' in Unexhausted Time by Emily Berry / 'Fuck / Concrete' in The Actual by Inua Ellams. Music by Portamento.

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Using constraints to write poems

Thu, 25 May 2023 09:59:28 GMT

I discuss constraints and how to use them. As always, there are writing prompts and poetry readings!

References: Oulipo / Aubrey Beardsley / 'Pepys' from The Kids by Hannah Lowe / 'Train Triolet (16:46 to Brighton)' from Hiding to Nothing by Anita Pati / 'The Moose' from Complete Poems by Elizabeth Bishop. Music by Portamento.

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Goblins, duality, alter-egos: Writing Transformations

Thu, 18 May 2023 02:55:58 GMT

I discuss how we might approach writing poetry about transformations.

References: 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson / Touchstone - coined by Matthew Arnold / 'Man in a Fox Suit' by Michael Symmons Roberts in The best of poetry london: Poetry and prose 1988-2013 ed. by Tim Dooley and Martha Kapos / 'Alter Ego 1: Isabella Rossellini in Death Becomes Her' by Matthew Haigh in Alter Egos: a Bad Betty anthology ed. by Amy Acre and Jack Wildhall / 'Goblin Market' by Christina Rossetti.

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Writing Ekphrastic Poetry 1

Thu, 11 May 2023 07:34:45 GMT

Today I discuss ekphrasis - how might we write about artworks?

References: 'The Shield of Achilles' - W.H. Auden / 'Colour Photographs of Tsarist Russia' from On Balance by Sinéad Morrissey / 'Portraits of Tudor Statesmen' by U.A. Fanthorpe from Poems of London ed. by Christopher Reid / 'Queen Mary's Rose Garden' by Sylvia Plath from Poems of London ed. by Christopher Reid. Music by Portamento.

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Writing dreams, nightmares and the ethereal

Thu, 04 May 2023 05:31:00 GMT

A workshop with poems and prompts about the otherworldly.

References: 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' - John Keats / John Keats and ‘negative capability’ - Essay on the British Library website / 'Waking' from Moving Day by Jenny King / 'This Spirit' from Unexhausted Time by Emily Berry / 'Strange Language in Night Fog' from Selling Manhattan by Carol Ann Duffy / 'Moonrise' by Gerard Manley Hopkins in Rattle Bag ed. by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes / Creative Writing for Dreamers by Joan Harthan. Music by Portamento.

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Nonsense-is-Sense

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 02:50:14 GMT

I discuss how we can use nonsense poetry to write for fun and gravitas.

References: 'Antigonish (I met a man who wasn't there)' by Hughes Mearns / 'Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll / 'On the Ning Nang Nong' by Spike Milligan.

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Do we write the way we walk?

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 02:26:27 GMT

I discuss how the way we move impacts the way we write.

References: 'Augmentation' from The Illustrated Woman by Helen Mort / 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge / 'Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798' by William Wordsworth and 'A Summer Evening's Meditation' by Anna Laetitia Barbauld from Romanticism: An Anthology (Fourth Edition) Edited by Duncan Wu.

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Writing Emotions

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 02:23:39 GMT

A short and sweet one today. I talk about how we might approach writing difficult emotions.

References: 'My Dead Father’s General Store in the Middle of a Desert' by Lee Stockdale (National Poetry Competition Winner. Poetry Society Website.) / 'I Have Only My Pen, My Voice and My Heart: On Writing To Bear Witness' by Hafsah Aneela Bashir from Why I Write Poetry (ed. by Ian Humphreys) / 'The Night My Mother Died I Dreamt of Sailors' from Violet by Selima Hill / 'Room Service' from Savage Tales by Tara Bergin / 'My Mother on a Diving Board' by Leo Boix from Islands are but Mountains. Music by Portamento.

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Longing Moons

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 02:32:54 GMT

A chilled workshop with lots of poems about the moon, a poem of my own, and a nocturnal prompt.

References: The Ink Dark Moon by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu (translated by Jane Hirshfield) / 'The Moon' from The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson / 'The Moon and The Yew Tree' from Sylvia Plath Poems / 'I'm Over the Moon' from Liquid Flesh by Brenda Shaughnessy / 'Moon Quilt Essay' from Material Properties by Jacob Polley / 'Lucent' from Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman / I, Lala The Poems of Lal Ded / 'Barn Owl' by Georgia Conlon. Music by Portamento.

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Spring! Haiku and Sakura

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 02:20:26 GMT

I discuss spring, trees, and Japanese culture and poetry, and set you a blossomy writing prompt.

References: 'Simon Armitage savours spring ‘ecstasy and melancholy’ on World Poetry Day' - article by Tobi Thomas / 'Spring Night...' by Matsuo Bashō / 'Wakened by the scent...' by Izumi Shikibu in The Ink Dark Moon (translated by Jane Hirshfield). Music by Portamento (his new track 'Real Love' is out now!).

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Skin and Bones

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 03:00:58 GMT

I discuss the Gurlesque and poems about the body. Plus embarrassing times I have hurt my back.

References: "Tiger D" by Chelsea Minnis and "2 Sections from "Imitating"" by Catherine Wagner - from Gurlesque ed. by Lara Glenum and Arielle Greenberg / "a test - things our bodies have been" - from bones by yrsa daley-ward / "Hunger Strikes of Angela of Foligno (1248-1309)" - from Eat or We Both Starve by Victoria Kennefick.

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Lists, lists, lists

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 06:30:30 GMT

I discuss the importance of the list when it comes to writing poetry.

References: 'Eat Me' - Patience Agbabi, Bloodshot Monochrome / 'On Lists' - Simon Armitage, A Vertical Art / W.N. Herbert, Writing Poetry / 'A Few Deceits' - Elaine Beckett, Sea Creature Regrows Entire Body / 'Props' - Emily Berry, Dear Boy / 'A Few Lies About My Birth' Jhilmil Breckenridge, Reclamation Song / 'Mama Cockroach, I Love You' - Fiona Benson, The Forward Book of Poetry 2021 / (Un)certainties - Regi Claire, The Forward Book of Poetry 2021.

Music by Portamento.

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Creative Habits and The Anarchist Poetics Technique

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 12:42:25 GMT

On this first ever episode, I talk through how to develop your writing habits and offer a technique to alleviate writing fear.

References: David Graeber - Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology / Christina Rossetti - Goblin Market

Music by Portamento

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