{"id":452,"date":"2017-07-10T15:25:10","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T15:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/?page_id=452"},"modified":"2017-07-17T10:14:54","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T10:14:54","slug":"lake-falconer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/festival-blogs\/lake-falconer\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Falconer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lancaster Words \u2018With Muldoon\u2019 event, 7th<\/sup>\u00a0July<\/u><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cThis poem is not about cows\u201d \u2013 How to capture the poem at short notice<\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Out in the open
\nAnd victim to the ocean breeze \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The washed up Jellyfish gleamed
\nWith a crystal clarity
\nA spectrum of colours <\/strong><\/p>\n

From <\/em>\u2018Untitled\u2019 by<\/em> Ethan Connell<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve told you,
\nWater always ripples in
\nEven numbers
\nIt counts the opening and
\nClosing of gills like doors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From <\/em>\u2018Neptune, God of Creation\u2019 by<\/em> Natalie Perman<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nSarah Corbett, published poet and Lancaster University Creative Writing lecturer, kicked off the poetry session off by asking the room what they thought of poetry. Responses were varied on both days, ranging from \u2018I love finding their hidden meanings\u2019 to \u2018I hate poetry\u2019.It might surprise you to know that the evocative lines above were penned in just two hours. What\u2019s more, some of the students in Sarah Corbett\u2019s poetry workshop initially said they didn\u2019t know how to write poetry. As you can see, we quickly managed to prove them wrong. Here\u2019s how.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the 6th<\/sup> and 7th<\/sup> of July, we invited A-level students from across Lancashire to join us for a day of literary workshops. Participants got to try their hand at drama, poetry, literary criticism and literary journalism. At the end of each day, the workshops reconvened to show off the fruits of their labours in a talent showcase, conducted whisperingly by our very own Paul Muldoon (Visiting Professor and Pulitzer Prize winning Irish poet).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0. . . Poetry often seems too far away, but it isn\u2019t . . .
\n<\/strong><\/span>
\n Sarah was keen to dispel the notion that poetry is for most people somehow out of reach. So to get things going, we had a look at some of Paul Muldoon\u2019s. \u2018Hedgehog\u2019 from New Weather, <\/em>published when he himself was 21, prompted some insightful comments about its religious imagery. There was also a group consensus that, though open to interpretation, this poem is probably not about cows.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 . . . Try to keep your pens moving . . . <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, the best way to write is simply to start writing, and (just as important) not to stop. Using Muldoon\u2019s poems as writing prompts, the group set off. After ten minutes of furious scribbling, everyone had the beginnings of a poem in paper and ink. A few rounds of paired feedback and some speedy redrafting later, and everyone\u2019s drafts were looking a lot less draft-like. In fact, every single student produced something that was unique, and a pleasure to listen to. <\/span>
\n
\n. . . There are no rules . . . Write whatever you want to write . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The poems above were just the tip of the iceberg. We also had a powerful monologue to a \u2018little mouse\u2019; a swooping poetic camera view of a miniature back yard world; a multisensory childhood fire building adventure; and a lilting visit to a dreamy musical theatre stage. A few of these made an appearance at the closing showcase, alongside a very stealthily included Brave New World <\/em>reference (a poem called \u2018The Feelies\u2019) in response to Muldoon\u2019s \u2018The Weepies\u2019. Whether carried on stage or tucked into audience backpacks, everyone\u2019s work was writing to be proud of. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully, what they took away from this is that creativity doesn\u2019t have to involve tapping your foot waiting for the muse to arrive. If a pen is in arm\u2019s reach, so is poetry. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lancaster Words \u2018In Conversation with Ian Martin\u2019 event, 7th<\/sup>\u00a0July<\/u><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u2018The Thick of It\u2019 writer Ian Martin describes his creative process and the fate of his Architectural Dachshund<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2018Well you tell me, you tell me if there\u2019s a difference<\/em>\u2019, said Martin when asked about writing screenplays vs. writing journalism. One of his many attempts to turn the conversation on its head, firing good natured follow up questions at interviewer Daragh Carville. An appreciative audience got to listen in as they covered everything from the craft of writing to famous outbursts of swearing (some of them fictional).<\/span><\/p>\n

The two writers sat down for Lancaster Words at the Storey Institute creative hub on the 7th<\/sup> July. Ian Martin is an Emmy winning comedy writer, known for his role as \u2018swearing consultant\u2019 on BBC series \u2018The Thick of It\u2019, as well as for a weekly column in the \u2018The Architects\u2019 Journal\u2019. Approaching the craft from a slightly different angle, Daragh Carville is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright who also teaches the craft at Birkbeck, University of London. <\/span><\/p>\n

[For family friendly blogging purposes, any profanity has been seamlessly and invisibly edited]<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you use a different part of your brain to write a column than to write a script? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s kind of the same thing though, I mean you know yourself you write and you teach. You\u2019re teaching the discipline that you use as a writer so you tell me, but what are you teaching in the end, patience, curiosity, self-examination, self-loathing, narcissism? That\u2019s writing in a nutshell!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well as a writer myself I have to work quite hard on the structural side, character lines and cornerstones, because actually what I like to do is sit down and kind of splurge, but you can’t just splurge page after page after page without some kind of shaping story structural instinct, can you?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe great law of a novel, or the first duty of a journalist, what the <\/em>[Bauhau] is that, well the first thing you learn as a journalist, ladies and gentlemen, is the first law of journalism. You would think that would be some Hippocratic oath about the pursuit of truth in a civic cause but it\u2019s not. The first law of journalism is the same as the first law of screenwriting, fill the <\/em>[Bauhau-ing] space, and that’s it essentially, it\u2019s a task you have to complete, and I’m happy to shackle myself to that kind of mundane, the deadline, the wordcount, I like it, otherwise you are just splurging and you get nowhere.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving said that, I’m working on this thing set in the late 19th century in London, about this guy who invented tabloid journalism, he’s this messianic figure, really interesting and oh my god the warm up process of \u2018we need an outline, we need a scene by scene\u2019 was doing my head in. In the end it fell to me to do the scene by scene and I just couldn’t bear it any longer, I had to get him on his feet and into 3D just to see what he sounded like.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\nI\u2019m struggling to imagine architectural satire, how much funny can you extract from a church etc.?\u00a0 (audience question)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell it\u2019s funny you should say that, can I draw your attention to this BOOK! <\/em>(Epic Space) Since this is a festival of literature.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have an architectural dachshund called Bauhau\u2026who I\u2019ve just killed off.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/em>Why did you keep writing for \u2018The Architects\u2019 Journal\u2019?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s seen me through three recessions now, you know when everything else dried up, left with just this column and a house pay for, wife to support. It saved my bacon.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\nWe\u2019re going to have a look at a clip now, and, yes I can see the audience recognise the scene.
\n( \u2018The Thick of It: The Rise of the Nutters\u2019 special, featuring the infamous line \u201cYou were like a sweaty octopus trying to unhook a bra!\u201d )
\nWatch the clip here: <\/strong>https:\/\/youtu.be\/GV_SaxVgY5o<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShall I tell you? It was 2006, we needed additional material, so there I was, cancer, lumber puncture, really embarrassing bug, in agony, lying down hardly able to move my head left and right, typing away for that special and sending it over. And to send it, I had to carry it through to the next room on a thumb drive, it was like the <\/em>[Bauhau-ing] 19th<\/sup> century<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n


\nAre you fed up or proud that people are saying, with the all the topsy-turvy politics of 2016 and 2017, its just like \u2018The Thick of It\u2019? (audience question)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh the second one, definitely the second one. Yeah I\u2019m proud that people use it as that kind of shorthand.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/em>So your upcoming writing project \u2018Death of Stalin\u2019. What\u2019s that about?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fall of Stalin, and politically, 1953 Moscow political failings seem weirdly familiar, kind of like 2016.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very tonally ambitious film. It\u2019s 1953, the great terror, there\u2019s torture, there\u2019s arrests, it\u2019s <\/em>[Bauhau-ing] grim, but then you\u2019ve got Steve Buscemi playing Nikita Krushchev and it goes a bit slap stick.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Lancaster Words \u2018MA New Writers Showcase\u2019 event, 7th<\/sup>\u00a0July<\/u><\/span><\/h2>\n

Lancaster Words New Writers Showcase \u2013 An Audience Perspective<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What are you to do when you get a hankering for sci-fi trains, suffragettes and scouse slang poetry (oh my) all in one evening? Your only option is to seek out writers, wherever they may have gathered. I\u2019m reliably informed that their collective term is a \u2018showcase\u2019. On the second action packed day of Lancaster Words I had the pleasure of watching writers from the MA Creative Writing programme at Lancaster University perform some of their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not knowing quite what to expect, I arrived to find a relaxed cabaret set up, where the most exuberant table was (appropriately) the writers themselves. The atmosphere was an emotional one for the writers presenting their hard work, and for the friends, relatives and tutors who came to support them. This was in fact a special showcase, not just because it shared in the festival, but because this was the last year of the Creative Writing MA in its current format: onto bigger and better literary flourishes in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

As proud tutor Zoe Lambert told us, the MA is a unique space for writers to develop their work in a \u2018supportive though rigorous academic environment\u2019. The course is one of the longest established in the UK, with expert teaching staff proficient and published in a wide range of genres and forms. The annual showcase is a celebration of the variety and quality of work produced on the course: to quote Lambert again, \u2018everyone\u2019s gone their own crazy way, and it\u2019s been great!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


\nThe Writers, from left to right<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\nBetty . . . <\/strong>boldly took the stage to read selected poems. One of them was based on the phrase \u2018when life gives you lemons\u2019, and on Beyonce\u2019s \u2018Let\u2019s be Honest\u2019. She, memorably, read from a poem written in entirely in scouse slang!<\/span><\/p>\n

Dean . . . <\/strong>was the first act of the night, taking up the microphone to introduce part of his science fiction project. Dean gave an impassioned performance, painting the scene of catastrophe on a futuristic train. Perhaps more horrifying than disaster and the swarming \u2018telepods\u2019, Dean\u2019s prediction of Northern Rail\u2019s continued future existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben . . . <\/strong>read from three short stories, featuring dark comedy, a reimagined fairytale adventure, and a Mafioso who \u2018owns all the puppies\u2019 utterly weirded out by the idea of putting a horse\u2019s head in someone\u2019s bed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Zoe Lambert . . .<\/strong> is a published author, like all of Lancaster\u2019s Creative Writing staff, though she didn\u2019t read on this occasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anna . . . <\/strong>managed to reduce the audience to complete silence with a form bending poetic\/rap monologue. Anna addressed the Grenfell tragedy with a directness that leaves me struggling to find the right words. There were audience members noticeably trying not to breath too loudly by the end.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amber . . . <\/strong>from Malta skilfully narrated an atmospheric story, enigmatically called \u2018The Kingdom\u2019. Shout out for keeping her cool as a performer when the microphone decided to interject with a loud boom and stop working.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sue . . . <\/strong>gave a fantastic reading of part of her historical novel, in which the POV character realises her calling to join the suffragettes. She even did an appropriate accent, getting a few good laughs for lines like, \u2018the two rozzers looking at me the way a donkey looks at a carrot on a fishing line\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlotte . . . <\/strong>from America based part of her prose project on the legend of the Alaskan Kooshdakhaa, or \u2018otter people\u2019. One of which, shapeshifting into an old flame, steps into the light of the protagonist\u2019s campfire circle with uncanny effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr George Green . . . <\/strong>is also a published author, and lectures on the Creative Writing courses.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lancaster Words \u2018With Muldoon\u2019 event, 7th\u00a0July \u201cThis poem is not about cows\u201d \u2013 How to capture the poem at short notice Out in the open And victim to the ocean breeze \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 The washed up Jellyfish gleamed With a crystal clarity A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":0,"parent":434,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-452","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P8n9DG-7i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/452\/revisions\/467"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/lancaster-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}