For all levels I run environmental writing workshops using narrative, poetry, oral work and group presentations, as described in English in Education Autumn 2002, Vol 36 No 3, pp. 37-46. My CV is on my website. The Unreliable Mushrooms: New Selected Poems (Redbeck 2003) is my sixth collection.
Teaching undergraduate and MA creative writing. Taught courses at Lumb Bank and Ty Newydd. Teaching 4 weekend courses for schools each year at Wigan's outdoor centre in Cumbria. Writer in Residence at Lenoir-Rhyne College, North Carolina, USA, 1997.
Hinning House Writing Weekends in Cumbria for Wigan Schools.
We divide students into 4 groups, 2 of which will be collecting 'evidence' (forms of writing from their guided exercises, mostly written outdoors, during the weekend) for an issue, 2 against. For many years (and with all age groups) we used the issue of a threat to widen the valley's road. In recent years we have used a threat to flood the upper valley to help solve the water crisis. We give them experiences and guide the writing about them so that, for a final presentation on the last day, they have several different forms of work they can choose to use in their group attempts at persuasion. Lastly there is a free vote with ballot papers, an introduction to electoral voting.
WATER SPIRIT'S PLEA or MOUNTAIN SPIRIT'S PLEA
1 Introduction
2 'The Coming of the Water Spirit [Mountain Spirit]' (narrative based upon Ted Hughes' 'The Iron Woman')
3 The 'ing' poem (based upon Southey's poem 'The Cataract of Ladore' - see Norman Nicholson's 'The Lake District' anthology, Penguin, 1978, p101)
5 'Night Walk in Dunnerdale' (poem)
6 'Water Amulet' (poem based upon my poem 'Bat Charm' )
7 Haikus
9 A play illustrating tensions in the valley.
10 Any poem of mine, or from the the anthologies I've brought.
11 A jingle or slogan.
12 A poster.
13 'The most important reasons why you should vote for...'
With older groups I use a similar structure of an environmental threat to the valley, but more challenging material from Ruskin, Wordsworth, Muir etc and set more complex writing exercises. The rain remains the same.
THE STONE SPIRAL (Giant Steps 1987);
OUTCROPS (Littlewood Arc 1991);
TEN LETTERS TO JOHN MUIR (Burbage Books 1990);
THE ROPE (Redbeck 1996);
THE BLUE BANG THEORY: NEW NATURE POETRY with John Sewell, Colin Sutherill and Diana Syder (Redbeck 1997);
WHALE WATCHING WITH A BOY AND A GOAT (Redbeck 1998).
Criticism:
TED HUGHES with Neil Roberts (Faber 1981); GREEN VOICES: UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY NATURE POETRY (Manchester University Press 1995).
sample of work:BATCHARM
Inside the bat the highest sound
Inside the highest sound an echo
Inside the echo a mountain of meanings
Inside the mountain a wet cave
Inside the wet cave a dry chamber
Inside the dry chamber a grooved roof
Inside the grooved roof a leather pouch
Inside the leather pouch a bat
Inside the bat the highest sound
(from OUTCROPS)