Finding your Inner Poet
Ayr Writers’ Club enjoyed a highly informative and stimulating poetry workshop led by Carolyn O’Hara, long-time member of the club. Having written poetry since 2010, Carolyn is the current holder of the club’s poetry shield.
The evening began with Carolyn sharing her love of all aspects of poetry, whether it be reading, writing or performing. She explained her love of poetry stems from the use of language to the multiple layers of understanding and meaning to be found in poems. Examples of favourite poets were shared with the group; Ted Hughes’ ‘Thought Fox,’ Norman MacCaig’s ‘Aunt Julia’ and Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Valentine.’ The group was shown the poetic devices each poet had used; metaphors, punctuation and omission of definite articles, to name a few. A handy checklist of techniques was shared with members to support their own writing.
To show how Carolyn has used these techniques, she shared her own poem, ‘Arrivals,’ an impressive description of people waiting for loved ones at an airport.
Prompts were given to start the writing process and members were asked to have a go at using some of the techniques discussed. The feedback session provided some remarkable efforts using the prompts ‘Behind the mask’ and ‘The day a child was born.’
A delightful evening ended with a hearty vote of thanks to Carolyn for sharing her ability and convincing members that there may be a poet inside of all of us.
Before leaving, members were also encouraged to enter the upcoming poetry competition on the theme of Lost & Found, with reminders to ‘think outside of the box,’ to come up with some unusual, unexpected and fresh ideas.
Fiona Johnson
