We held our second poetry workshop on 4 March, again at Pat’s. Thanks Pat for the hospitality, and good to see you doing well after your accident.
This is a bit different from other workshops as we not only read our work to each other, but also discuss and learn about aspects of poetry. It is a workshop not only for the writer, but also for those who love to read, even if they don’t write, verse.
At the first workshop, after discussing the Pantoum form, we set ourselves a task to write one. These were read, and the writing in this difficult form was impressive. We then discussed the form some more before moving on.
We then tackled a completely different subject, poetry in translation. We had a Neruda love poem, and with Claudia reading it in Spanish were able to appreciate its beauty in the original language. We had a translation of this poem – Ann had brought poems in French and German, and Miranda had two separate and quite different, translations of a Russian poem. It gave us an insight into the difficulty of translating poetry, to keep it poetic but not change the original.
Each of us read some of our own work. Always such a wide spectrum, from sorrow and grief, to humour and Haiku. Constructive opinions, and appreciation, were expressed.
Finally, we looked at another form, the Villanelle, which is our task for the next meeting. Several Villanelles were read, including probably everybody’s favourite, Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night”.Â
It is an evening where we can share poetry with others who love it, and to be honest, rather spoil ourselves. Hopefully everyone will have a go at writing their own Villanelle for next time. The third poetry workshop will again be at Pat’s, at 8pm, on Wednesday 3 June. New members will be welcome.
Photo by Matthew LeJune on Unsplash