Brandon Marsh Nature Writing Workshop and Walk

My first workshop took place at Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve, in conjunction with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. It was open to 11-18 year olds. It was a brilliant experience.

I was really impressed with the poems that were produced, and loved the enthusiasm during the nature walk. Big thank you to Dan from The Wildlife Trust for leading the walk alongside me, it was great to talk to the group about a variety of wildlife, including wayfaring trees and their folklore, lapwings, eyebright, knopper galls and lichen.

The writing I used in the workshop: Crow and The Birds by Ted Hughes, Kingfisher by Robert Macfarlane, Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath, Adder by Robert Macfarlane, To The Roost by myself, Swan and Shadow by John Hollander, Being But Men by Dylan Thomas.

We talked about using the senses, rhythm and rhyme, writing as an activism, enhancing our description and for a bit of fun we played around with structure. We also worked on building confidence - it was heartwarming to see a lot of the attendees come out of their shell as the afternoon progressed. Most people even felt comfortable enough to read out their work by the end! I had some lovely, very positive feedback from the attendees.

I am looking for more opportunities to run workshops, and have some lined up. If you know a group who would be interested, please DM me.

To see photos - click here for my Instagram post