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Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

17 June 2025

Posted by Susan L. Edser

Poetry

Ali Sparkes is a children’s author who leads writing sessions for Junior and Young Writers every Saturday morning at MAST Mayflower Studios. To learn more about her, visit her website: https://www.alisparkes.com and click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/ali-sparkes

Susan L. Edser, MA graduate in Creative Writing and Publishing and winner of Bournemouth University’s prestigious Vice Chancellor Award 2024, is Ali’s assistant and writes the weekly blog. To learn more about her, click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/susan-l-edser


This evening’s group met in the Circle Bar of the Mayflower Theatre, with plenty of glamour, comfort…and air con! This was much needed on one of the hottest days of the year so far. 

The focus for the Creative Writers this week was poetry. Sue and Ali chose twelve poems and asked the group to vote for their favourite one using a sticker. Some poems were familiar, and others were brand new to them. ‘The Warning’ by Jenny Joseph, with the famous first line, ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple’, resonated with one writer. ‘The Listener’ by Walter de la Mare, about a traveller approaching a deserted house filled with ghosts or listeners, was appreciated by another person.

Ali encouraged them to write a poem of their own, drawing on the qualities they liked about their favourite poem. One writer flipped ‘The Warning’ to write from a child’s perspective, while another used beautiful descriptions, like ‘Her eyes blinked in the honey’, referring to looking through an amber window.

The writers were then tasked with writing a four-line poem, inspired by Lemn Sissay’s ‘One Day at a Time’. They rose to the challenge and produced two excellent poems each, which were succinct and carefully crafted. 

Ali finished with information about several forthcoming poetry competitions, which she encouraged the Creative Writers to enter.

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