Anne Lister Poetry Workshops Series 3

The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. Louis l’Amour .

Turn on the tap and get that water surging, have words powering through your veins. And let’s use the rather incredible Anne Lister as our focus, our inspirational muse.

In today’s workshop we are sliding straight into early 1832 and we’re off to Hastings where Anne and Vere spent the winter of 1831/2. Vere Hobart, wealthy heiress, niece of Sibella Maclean, and great niece of aristocrat Lady Louisa Stewart.

Was this time in Hastings going to be wildly romantic, being kissed by the wind, waves and sea – or will Anne come home wounded?

Join me and step into their shoes and shuffle around a bit.

In our poetry technique goody bag tonight, we are looking at Dramatic Monologues. How do you create voice that is not your own? What techniques can be used? What is the effect of a dramatic monologue and what does it really give us? Why should we value this form?

Remember, these workshops are all about celebrating you, and your work. They are for you whether you’re just about to put pen to paper, or already a published poet.

Poetry by women writers, as well as extracts from the diaries of Anne Lister, will be used as our resource material.

It will be of benefit if you can familiarise yourself with Anne Lister’s diaries and/or the BBC Gentleman Jack TV series.

Fun writing exercises, guided writing, and exploring the technique of ‘Dramatic monologues’, will support, develop, and really drive your writing forward.

• The poetry workshops will be held online via Zoom.
• 2 pre-Funded places per workshop. Just contact me in confidence.
• Resources sent prior workshop

SUNDAY 24TH APRIL 2022 5pm – 7pm BST 12noon – 2pm EST

As always, any questions at all, just ask. I’m very much looking forward to meeting you and guiding you to create some awesome dramatic monologues.

Words. Language. Where would we be without the excitement, the thrill, the cut and thrust of vocabulary? Let’s hit the accelerator and slam straight into 1832 and use the fascinating Anne Lister as our muse.

These workshops are all about celebrating you, and your poetry. They are for you whether you’re just thinking about writing or already a published writer.

It’s mid-1832 Anne had almost given up hope of finding her new love, her love of her life. She returned home feeling a little humiliated after her time in Hastings with Vere. Furthermore, the prospect of being with Mariana was becoming more and more unlikely – Charles Lawton was as strong and robust as ever.

Was love ever going to happen?

Ding Dong! Hello Miss Ann Walker!

In tonight’s Poetic Technique ‘goody bag’ we have ‘starting mid-conversation’. How do we create alternative openings, the first lines? What conversations might Anne and Ann have? How did they start? Let’s step into their shoes have a wander around. Let’s listen to snatches of conversation, whispers, raised eyebrows and lowered eyelids.

It will be of benefit if you can familiarise yourself with Anne Lister’s diaries and/or the BBC Gentleman Jack TV series. Poetry by women writers, as well as extracts from the diaries of Anne Lister, will be used as our resource material.

Fun writing exercises, guided writing, and exploring the technique of ‘Starting mid-conversation’, will definitely support, develop, and really drive your writing forward.

• The poetry workshops will be held online via Zoom.
• 2 pre-Funded places per workshop. Please contact me in confidence.
• Resources sent prior workshop

WEDNESDAY 11th MAY 2022 7pm – 9pm BST 2pm – 4pm EST

As always, any questions at all, just ask. I’m very much looking forward to meeting you and guiding you to create some fabulous poetry.

Well, that’s love, isn’t it? Joy and Pain and Wonder all mixed in together. And there’s plenty of joy and wonder in Anne’s world in early February 1834. Let’s use the marvellous Anne Lister as our focus, our motivational muse.

Whether you’re just about to put pen to paper, or already a published poet, these workshops are for you. This is all about celebrating you, and your writing. Your uniqueness as a writer.

On 12th February 1834 Anne and Ann pledged themselves to each other, exchanging rings. Ann Walker wore the one Anne had purchased for her in York. Although it was another month before they took the sacrament, for both women the ring exchange was binding enough.

In tonight’s Poetic Technique ‘goody bag’ we have ‘Describing a character through clothes’.

Our clothes say a huge about us, not just our particular style but how we are feeling. Our emotions are often reflected in what we wear. Ever tried to wear bright positive colours when you just don’t feel that way? How do we express this physiological trait in poetry? How do we make it effective and how do we maximise the technique of ‘Describing a character through clothes’?

It will be of benefit if you can familiarise yourself with Anne Lister’s diaries and/or the BBC Gentleman Jack TV series.

Fun writing exercises, guided writing, and exploring the technique of ‘Writing about a character through clothes’, will support, develop, and really drive your writing forward. Poetry by women writers, as well as extracts from the diaries of Anne Lister, will be used as our resource material.

• The poetry workshops will be held online via Zoom.
• 2 pre-Funded places per workshop. Please contact me in confidence.
• Resources sent prior workshop

SUNDAY 29th MAY 2022 5pm – 7pm BST 12noon – 2pm EST

As always, any questions at all, just ask. I’m very much looking forward to meeting you and guiding you to create some amazing poetry.

So let’s look at this empty basket which Anne Walker held. And Christmas, 1834. Just what did Ann Walker make of that?

I bet she had a thing to say and wrote plenty about it. Let’s do the same.

And remember, it really doesn’t matter if you are just thinking about putting pen to paper, or already a famous writer, these workshops are for you. They are all about celebrating you, and your work. No one can write like you – your work is individual.

Today we are going to Christmas 1834 and we are going to use the both Anne Lister and Anne Walker as our focus, our rather inspirational muses.

In December 1834 Anne was making decisions but were they wise? Even though Christmas was not a commercial event, it was still a special time, surely a time to be together. What did Anne’s decision to spend her and Ann’s first Christmas, with another, say about Anne’s frame of mind?

What did Ann think of this? And how did she deal with it?

Immediately after Christmas, from January to April 1835, both women endured the humiliation of public ‘Marriage announcements’ and threatening letters. Life with Anne Lister was not plain sailing.

In our Poetic Technique ‘goody bag’ we have ‘What is not’. This clever technique allows the reader to be told what is not – what is not remembered, what didn’t happen and what she has forgotten. By shading in the dark, we see the light. How do we use this technique most effectively and maximise impact?

Poetry, as well as extracts from the diaries of Anne Lister, will be used as our resource material.

It will be of benefit if you can familiarise yourself with Anne Lister’s diaries and/or the BBC Gentleman Jack TV series.

Fun writing exercises, guided writing, and exploring the technique of ‘What is not’, will support, develop, and really drive your writing forward.

• The poetry workshops will be held online via Zoom.
• 2 pre-Funded places per workshop. Please contact me in confidence.
• Resources sent prior workshop

WEDNESDAY 22ND JUNE 2022 7pm – 9pm BST 2pm – 4pm EST

As always, any questions at all, just ask. I’m very much looking forward to meeting you and guiding you to create some awesome poetry.

With conversion work well underway at Shibden Hall, Anne and Ann are off travelling. They welcome this ecstatic experience as it surely must have been, travelling through Northern Europe and heading for Russia. Let’s join them and use the wonderful Anne Lister and Anne Walker as our focus, our darling muses.

These workshops are all about celebrating you, and your poetry. You are, after all, a unique writer, there is no one like you. And they’re for you – whether you’ve yet to put pen to paper or already a famous poet.

It’s straight to 1839 and let’s take a seat in their carriage and enjoy a tour of Copenhagen, Oslo, Norway, Sweden, Helsinki and over to Russia. What was it actually like in the carriage, what conditions did they endure and what sights did they see? Ann Walker was surely having an unforgettable time.

So what did Ann and Anne say? What conversations did they have and what language devices did these women use? Let’s be the silent observers, and listen in.

In tonight’s Poetic Technique ‘goody bag’ we have ‘Speech within poetry’. When do we use it? What is the effect of direct speech within a poem and what does it really give us? Let’s maximize its impact.

It will be of benefit if you can familiarise yourself with Anne Lister’s diaries and/or the BBC Gentleman Jack TV series.

Poetry from women writers, as well as extracts from the diaries of Anne Lister, will be used as our resource material Fun writing exercises, guided writing, and exploring the technique of ‘What is not’, will support, develop, and really drive your writing forward.

• The poetry workshops will be held online via Zoom.
• 2 pre-Funded places per workshop. Please contact me in confidence.
• Resources sent prior workshop

SUNDAY JULY 10TH 5pm – 7pm BST 12noon – 2pm EST

As always, any questions at all, just ask. I’m very much looking forward to meeting you and guiding you to create some awesome poetry.

Life, and our deaths are the only certainties. And who knows when the Grim Reaper will call or how swift or indeed when, the scythe will fall? All great things come to an end, as did the life of Anne Lister.

And remember, these workshops are all about celebrating you, and your words. Whether you’re just thinking about jotting down a few words, or already a famous poet, we all started somewhere and we all have more to learn.

Anne Lister was such an enormous energy, her death would have cast a huge hollow throughout many homes, towns and beds…

In the middle of their extensive tour, Anne was bitten by an insect. She wrote her final journal entry on 11th August and died on 22nd September 1840 in Kutaisi, Georgia, Russia. Remarkably, Ann Walker brought Anne’s body home to Shibden Hall, Halifax.

In tonight’s Poetic Technique ‘goody bag’ we have ‘Themed Vocabulary’. When do we use it? What is the effect of using specific themed vocabulary to stress the essence, the core emotion of the poem? Let’s maximise the impact of themed vocabulary in our poetry.

Poetry from women writers, as well as extracts from the diaries of Anne Lister, will be used as our resource material. It will be of benefit if you can familiarise yourself with Anne Lister’s diaries and/or the BBC Gentleman Jack TV series.

Fun writing exercises, guided writing, and exploring the technique of ‘Themed Vocabulary’, will support, develop, and really drive your writing forward.

• The poetry workshops will be held online via Zoom.
• 2 pre-Funded places per workshop. Please contact me in confidence.
• Resources sent prior workshop

WEDNESDAY 27TH JULY 7 – 9 pm BST 2 – 4pm EST

As always, any questions at all, just ask. I’m very much looking forward to meeting you and guiding you to create some awesome poetry.