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

28 February 2026

Posted by Melissa Dehn

Pictures as Inspiration

This
weekend’s writing session was well-attended and energetic. Hands shot up when
the writers were asked the first question of the day: Where’s Wally? There were
plenty of creative ideas about who might be looking for him (aside from us), including
Evil Wally, the police, the Roman Empire, a lifeguard, and his mum.

After the
warm-up, we moved on to the main exercise of the day: using pictures as
inspiration. The writers studied several group paintings and discussed in groups
what might be happening in them. Paintings included An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, and Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. All very
atmospheric and active images, there were plenty of interesting theories, and particularly
Wright’s painting inspired conversations about the supernatural – the full Moon
could hint at werewolves, or the scared expressions caused by a Frankenstein-esque
monster.

Lastly,
each writer was given a famous portrait, such as of Frida Kahlo or Vincent Van
Gogh, and considered the person’s characteristics, memories, opinions, and even
how they would react if they were suddenly transported to our time.

Thank you
to all the writers for their inspiring ideas and to Rohan Gotobed for leading
such an engaging session.









-Melissa

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