FERAL ANGELS EVENTS

The most exciting thing happening this poetry year is undoubtedly my collaboration with the fabulous Tom Hirons, and our hatching of Feral Angels poetry. WE have been developing the aims and manifesto since last year's work and we now have 6 poetry workshop weekends coming up this year, all over the country; plus another wilderness fast and a 5 day residential camp.

The first event will be on home turf in Dartington, in March. Then we have Stroud, Bristol, Edinburgh, Norwich and London.

the blurb says:

Our general aim for this weekend is for everyone participating to be claiming more space as their genuine selves when they leave than when they arrived, to be fizzing with presence and vision.

Specifically, we’ll be spending time in these thickets, through exercises (both written and embodied) and through conversation:

To write from places of wildness, of unequivocal, unconditional welcome, and of being witnessed in all our glory and misery.
To reimagine the poet as a figure carrying power in both the otherworld and this one, a potent being with vitality, eloquence and bravery.
To understand the principals of the poetry of Feral Angels To begin the journey of understanding our own poetic values
An introduction to the five-lens method of editing our own work, and how being clear about what we love and what we don't love can make us better poets
Exploring ways of imbuing our words with grace and beauty, as well as power
The courting of duende, that ‘mysterious force that everyone feels and no philosopher has explained...’ (Goethe)

More loosely, these are areas we’ll also likely be working within:

The roots of Feral Angels’ poetry, and writing in the three modes of otter, mycelium and hawk
Finding our authentic voice(s), and the value of real people, true-speaking and intrepid eloquence
Voicing the inner pantheon and reclaiming the voices of our exiled parts
Addressing our personal divinities, muses and daemons
Practices of deep listening, to our inner worlds, to our bodies, to the world beyond us
The power of both direct speaking and slantwise language
How beauty and musicality of language lends it power
Some skills around editing, crafting and honing writing to create compelling, powerful poetry
Location within the lineage of poets, bards and truth-speakers
A heightened sense of personal poetic mission, Discovering what is truly urgent, and what is urgently true
Becoming part of a growing community of eloquent souls