Poetry and Writing for Well-being

Fri 27 October 2023 - Sun 29 October 2023
Tutors / clare e. potter & Jill Teague
Guest Reader / Patrick Jones
Course Fee / From £250 - £350 per person
Genre / Poetry
Language / EnglishWelsh

How can writing and reading help our health and well-being? Poetry and words can help us explore our feelings, and communicate our deepest thoughts.

During this course, participants will embark on a process of reading and responding to poetry to encourage personal discovery, renewal and enjoyment. By engaging in writing for therapeutic purposes, participants will learn how to use this process as a tool for continued work on creative recovery. The tutors will offer a supportive, safe and creative space where participants can make meaning for themselves and find communality in the universal experiences we all share. There will also be the opportunity to spend time walking and writing in the beautiful natural environment around Tŷ Newydd to deepen your connection with nature – including your own – and to support your creativity and well-being. Jill and clare will provide materials though participants are invited to bring a favourite poem and an object that holds significance.

The course welcomes both professional writers and people with no prior experience of either poetry or writing. This course is also suitable for practitioners interested in using their learning to help others, for example as facilitators of creative writing groups.

Tutors

clare e. potter

clare e. potter is a Welsh-speaking writer and performer. Her awards include two Literature Wales Writers’ Bursaries, the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry and the Jim Criddle prize for celebrating the Welsh language. She has translated the work of the National Poet of Wales, was a Hay Festival Writer at Work and performed at the Smithsonian Folk-Life Festival, USA. She also studied and taught in New Orleans for a decade. Her current focus is on well-being and learning through nature and she has had several residencies and commissions to create work around these themes. Thanks to Arts Council funding, clare is learning poetry therapy practice. Early in 2023 she will be presenting two BBC radio programmes about poetry. Her second collection was written with thanks to a Literature Wales Writers’ Bursary and a grant from the Society of Authors and will be published in 2024.

 

 

Jill Teague

Jill Teague (they/them) is a Welsh writer, writing facilitator and Poetry Therapy Practitioner based in Eryri, north Wales. They note that living and working in a place of outstanding natural beauty has played a huge part in their healing and well-being and has helped sustain their own creative process. They are an Executive Director of iaPOETRY (the International Academy for Poetry Therapy), and a Master Mentor for the academy – mentoring and training potential Poetry Therapy Practitioners and those wishing to become mentors. They have received awards and scholarships from the National Association for Poetry Therapy and Wales Arts International, for pioneering work in the field of poetry therapy, as well as scholarships from BridgeXngs Poetry Center, New York. They also founded Out of the Blue Writing, where they facilitate writing groups, works with individuals and provides online courses.  

Guest Reader

Patrick Jones

Patrick Jones is a poet and playwright based in Blackwood who has worked widely in community and health settings. Currently a Writer-in-Residence with The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales, he has worked with the Forget Me Not Chorus, whose members are individuals living with dementia, on a book documenting the members’ most precious songs and the stories behind them. Patrick has worked with Mind Cymru, The Samaritans, the Welsh Refugee Council and Velindre Hospital on many health and well-being projects. His recent publications include My Bright Shadow (Rough Trade Books, 2019), and a poetry collection exploring grief, loss and love and Fuse/Fracture (Parthian Books, 2021). 

Online Booking

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+44 (0) 1766 522 811