Going West Poetry at Piha free writers workshop

Diane from Laingholm

The Listening Sand with poet and workshop facilitator Anne Kennedy.
Free: Saturday 30 April, 2pm - 5pm. North Piha Glade and Beach.
Register at info@goingwestfest.co.nz
The Listening Sand, is a chance for you to use the craft of poetry to shape and share your deep thoughts - to ‘tell the sand’ a memory, a secret, a hope. In the workshop, we’ll explore the ways to make and shape a poem. When we’ve written our poems, we’ll carve them into the wet, receptive sand while sand-tagger, David Hilliam, illuminates and connects our writing. Of course, when the tide comes in, your poem will be washed away, but it will remain in your head, your voice, your notebook, the film.
Poetry can help us express ideas that otherwise remain unsaid. The sand will be our creative confidante. In this workshop you will be guided by the expertise and empathy of Anne Kennedy to write from the heart; to tell the sand your worries, memories, and hopes. Making an impression in the sand seems like a simple thing to do; it’s primal. But it’s also complex. We mark the earth by our very existence; and, because there are a lot of us, that’s a lot of marks.
We walk in nature and it makes us feel good. These last few years have been difficult, and the world is in crisis environmentally and politically. Poetry is a place where you can say what you think and feel. A poem is a way to work out complexity. 

The planet, in a way, ‘listens’ to our behaviour.

Anne Kennedy is an experienced writing workshop facilitator who will guide you to find your tone, to select words, and to contemplate how a poem can crystalize elements of time, difficulties and musings.

Workshop schedule

2.00pm: Welcome and introductions, and outlining the afternoon.
2.15pm: Talking through the idea, including poem samples.
2.35pm: Writing time
3.10pm: Sharing our poems, and making any revisions.
3.40pm: To the beach!