Dove Cottage Poets, plus Brantwood poetry events 2019

Kerry and Geraldine, Wordsworth Trust Grasmere, November 21st 2018

Dove Cottage poets Kerry Darbishire and Geraldine Green ended a successful year of poetry with a reading in the Foyle Room at the Wordsworth Trust Grasmere on November 21^st to a packed room and an appreciative audience. Big thanks go to Hannah Catterall and colleagues at the Wordsworth Trust for supporting the reading and helping to make it such a relaxed and enjoyable event and to Polly Atkins for hosting it so beautifully – thank you all!

DCP is a friendly welcoming group of poets who meet on the first Thursday of the month at Dove Cottage. If you'd like to join DCP or be added to the group email list, please contact: enquiries@wordsworth.org.uk

Sharing the same publisher, Indigo Dreams, Geraldine and Kerry had a busy 2018 with their Northern IDP tour. This tour continues well into 2019 with readings already booked at Brantwood, Coniston, Spotlight Lancaster, Brewery Arts Kendal and Borderlines Festival Carlisle – plus many more, including Geraldine’s poetry tour to the US in July.

She’s delighted to once again be co-tutoring at Brantwood in 2019 with New York poet George Wallace in June, UK poet Pippa Little in October, plus two poetry readings with open mic slots in March and November.

Guest poets include: Kathleen Jones, Kerry Darbishire, Pippa Little in March with Geraldine reading alongside Graham Mort, Helen Mort, Kerry Darbishire in November.

While open mic slots are open to all, it would be great to have DCP poets reading with Geraldine and Kerry, as well as other IDP poets and Brantwood writers.

Booking is through Brantwood

Tel: 015394 41396

enquiries@brantwood.org.uk

Links to the four Brantwood events can be found here:

Poetry on the Terrace: http://geraldinegreensaltroad.blogspot.com/2018/11/blog-post.html

Place and the Imagination:

http://geraldinegreensaltroad.blogspot.com/2018/11/place-and-imagination-midsummer-poetry.html

October Writing Retreat:

http://geraldinegreensaltroad.blogspot.com/2018/11/11th-14th-october-2019-creative-writing.html

November Poetry Evening and Supper:

http://geraldinegreensaltroad.blogspot.com/2017/11/poetry-party-open-mic-and-supper.html

Geraldine Green 10.1.2019

Brantwood

Indigo Dream Poets, Northern Tour 2018-2019

IDP poets Geraldine Green and Kerry Darbishire ended a busy and successful Northern IDP Poetry Tour, 2018 to packed houses, at Kendal Mountain Literature Festival on November 17^th and 18^th alongside IDP poet Kathleen Jones and at the Wordsworth Trust Grasmere, November 21^st

Their IDP tour continues well into 2019 with an afternoon of poetry, refreshments and open mic with IDP poet Kathleen Jones and poet Pippa Little, Brantwood March 17^th, and many more readings, workshops and courses, including:

Brewery Arts Centre Kendal July 27th
Borderlines Festival Carlisle, October
Poetry Evening Brantwood November 7^th 
with guest poets Graham Mort, Helen Mort and Kerry Darbishire 

June Brantwood 2018

and Geraldine’s ‘on the road’ poetry trip to the US July 2019… plus many more, including plans for their IDP Southern Poetry Tour – watch this space!

You can read more about other readings IDP poets Geraldine and Kerry are involved in on Geraldine’s blog: http://geraldinegreensaltroad.blogspot.com

WRITE ON THE FARM 2019, CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS ON AN UPLAND FARM IN CUMBRIA

2019 Spring/Summer Dates:

February 23rd - Jane's Farm

March 23rd - Jane's Farm
April 13th: Jane's Farm

May - no May workshop

June 22nd - Jane's Farm with co-tutor New York poet George Wallace

Autumn/Winter Dates

tbc

Saturdays, 10.30am-4.30pm

Welcome! to the 2018 series of Write on the Farm  creative writing workshops, led by writer Geraldine Green

Come and join us! and write with us on the farm. A wonderful upland farm set between the Lakes and the Dales 

10.30am-4.30pm Cost: £35 incl. refreshments. Please bring your own lunch, waterproof footwear and clothing as part of the afternoon session takes place outside.

Here are the workshop dates for Write on the Farm 2019. All will be held at Jane’s Farm except the March, June and September workshops. Please email me if you’d like to come along to one or more of the Write on the Farm workshops:

Spring/Summer, Saturdays 10.30am-4.30pm

Cost of one day Write on the Farm workshops: £35, incl. refreshments. Please bring your own lunch, also warm waterproof clothing and footwear as part of the afternoon sessions will be held outdoors, plus writing materials and camera.

Through a variety of writing prompts new writing will be produced in a safe and supportive environment. Feedback on new work and also on ongoing projects, will be given by the group and tutor. 

Whether through poetry, prose, travel writing, dreams or journals, these workshops encourage us to explore where and how we dwell and how we take experience and memories with us when we travel to other places, real or imagined.

Feedback given by group and tutor on individual’s writing (any genre). Please bring six copies of writing to be work-shopped.

Through a variety of writing prompts and stimuli new writing produced

Morning:  Gather in the Farmhouse kitchen, 10.30am-12.30pm new writing produced from a variety of writing prompts and stimuli; feedback given.

Lunch

Afternoon: reflective ramble and note taking, followed by quiet writing time, read back and feedback.

Workshops take place in Cumbria on a farm, near Kirkby Lonsdale, 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Cost: £35. Please bring own lunch and waterproof footwear and clothing. Refreshments provided.  

If interested in attending the ‘Write on the Farm’ workshops please email me, or contact me through Poetry PF

An experienced creative writing tutor and mentor, I’ve had two full collections of poetry published, with a third published in 2018; gained a PhD in Creative Writing titled: “An Exploration of Identity and Environment through Poetry” from Lancaster University and been widely anthologized. 

Pamphlet collections include The Skin, Passio, Poems of a Molecatcher’s Daughter. Full collections published by Indigo Dreams Pubs. are: The Other Side of the Bridge, Salt Road, and  Passing Through

Travels and readings have taken me to Europe and North America, where I’ve read at a variety of venues on the East and West coasts and also the Mid West.

NOVEMBER 7TH 2019 POETRY, OPEN MIC AND SUPPER BRANTWOOD CONISTON

photo of Coniston Water by Geraldine Green

on the Terrace before the reading (inside!) Brantwood Cafe Nov 2nd 2017, photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

Next one: November 7th 2019, come and join me,  Geraldine Green  when I'll be hosting another lovely poetry evening and open mic supper at Brantwood, with guest poets:

Graham Mort
Helen Mort
Kerry Darbishire

Reflections on three Poetry Evenings, Open Mic & Supper - join us in 2019!

November 1st 2018: Another lively event, with a good turn-out of over 35 people, including guest poets. Poems read ranged from Hurricane Sandy, an Italian landslide, graves of babies, WWI, dogs, climbing, the Black Country, Dunbarton, poems written in response to Brantwood, to the North country, Morecambe Bay, Germany, poems read from three anthologies: Waymaking (Vertebrate Press), Watch the Birdie (Beautiful Dragons Press) and This Place I Know (Handstand Press) and many many more... 

On the Poetry Evening Brantwood 2017:

So, November 2nd 2017 saw the second Poetry Evening, Open Mic and Supper at Brantwood Poetry Evening. Last year poets came from all around Cumbria, and I think the word must’ve got about because this year was as well attended, if not better, than 2016.

Poets from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Scotland, Spain via Wigton and France via Grange over Sands all gathered in the warm and friendly ambience in Brantwood’s newly refurbished Terrace Café.

Guest poets who read alongside me were Graham Mort, Kerry Darbishire and Kim Moore. I’ve known Graham for ages! Not only was he my MA supervisor but also my PhD. And some of the poems I read had been carefully crafted and discussed before reaching the publishing stage. He's a brilliant poet and great to co-tutor with - we co-tutor residential writing courses at Brantwood - I owe him a lot.

Kerry’s one of the Write on the Farm group who meet once a month near Kirkby Lonsdale at a poet-farmer friend’s farm (now that's a tongue-twister!)  Like Graham she's a fine poet and friend. Kim’s a familiar face on the poetry scene and was instrumental in setting up the first Kendal LitFest. It was great fun co-hosting an open mic night with her for the first Dalton Litfest two days after Brantwood – I’m poeted out!

me, enjoying the company of poets and friends, photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

guest poet Graham Mort

guest poet Kerry Darbishire

guest poet Kim Moore

A Gathering ...

Poets from Carlisle were well represented, with a great crowd from Nick Pemberton’s Speakeasy open mic that I used to go to when we lived in the north of the county. Wigton and Cockermouth Writers, Ripon Writers, Poetry Scotland and Kendal Brewery Poets were also well represented along with my own writing group who meet on the farm.

Nick Pemberton strutting his wonderful poetry! Always a pleasure to hear Nick read, photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

Andy Hopkins, great reader of his own vibrant poetry, photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

James Riddick

Karen Lloyd

Kelly Davis

Mark Carson

and here's Jane herself, fine poet and photographer, thank you Jane!

We were blessed with a full red-glowing moon, a calm night with Coniston water gleaming silver-black under a clear night sky. For some November 2^nd is also All Souls’ Night, or the Night of the Dead… a time to remember those who have journeyed before us, those who have passed over and passed down to us memories and stories that enrich our lives.

a Pumpkin lights our way! photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

Some words about the recent full moon, Beaver Moon or Hunter’s Moon:

“It is named the Hunter’s Moon, as it would illuminate prey for hunters and this is the first full moon since the Harvest Moon on October 5.

While the Harvest Moon was when families would bring in their crops, the Hunters Moon helped them find food as it lit up the night.

It is sometimes named the Beaver Moon, as these animals were hunted at this time of the year.

The waters would soon freeze over, so beavers were hunted and their fur was used to keep people warm. (extract from Somerset Echo, 4.11.2017)

Poetry, food for the soul, a making, creating and lighting the way ...

To have the light of that full moon shining down on us while inside we were cosy beside a wood-burning stove, well fed with stew and dumplings, telling poetry stories just as our ancestors did before us, before winter sets in, was quite simply, magical. 

Made me think how important it is to keep the flame of poetry, the Bridie fire, the essence of Brigid alive inside nurturing our spirits, in the telling of tales and poetry, in the coming together as a community.

across the lake to the silhouetted fells, photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

Big thanks to all who came and read, came and listened, and to Brantwood who hosted us.

November 1^st 2018 we’ll do it all again! See you next year at our poetry gathering round the fire as Coniston Old Man looks across the Lake to us…

Bookings for next year's Poetry Evening and Open Mic Supper through Brantwood

Geraldine Green 5.11.2017

enjoying the evening with friends Kerry and Steve Darbishire, 2.11.2017, photo by Jane Moss-Luffram

all photos taken by Jane Moss Luffram