Illustration from 1659 by Basil Valentine, for his work Azoth of the Philosophers. The image shows an azoth, which is an alchemic emblem depicting the composition of the universe. At the core of the diagram are the four classical elements: earth (lower left), air (upper right), fire (upper left) and water (lower right).
Are you interested in the connection between mind, body and word; how physicality and movement can affect our writing? Would you like to publish collaborative work with fellow poets?
We are looking for writers interested in joining us on four poetry walks in Gloucestershire over the winter months with a view to publishing a collaborative pamphlet in the spring of 2022 with Yew Tree Press.
We will walk through the winter from the darkness of Samhain towards the light of Imbolc. Each walk will take as its theme one of the four ‘classical’ elements. On the walk, there will be pauses to hear poems related to the walk and its location, and to the element. The walks will be led by Philip Rush of Yew Tree Press and by JLM Morton of Dialect.
You may join for the whole series or for just one or more of the walks.
As the weeks go by, some of the ideas and experiences of the walk will, we hope, coalesce into poems which can be shared online with the group and then revised together in the light of comments and responses. Working collaboratively in this way can produce exciting tensions and synergies and offer an enriching development experience for writers. By the end of February we will have developed enough poems of good quality to be shaped into a pamphlet which will be launched at a live, in-person event (all being well!). In the past Yew Tree Press have held launches in the beautiful pavilion garden space at The Museum in the Park in Stroud.
These will not be long walks, but you do need to be happy with a few miles of wintry farmland. We won’t be put off by the weather – it’s all part of the experience - so come with sensible rainwear, umbrellas etc. Each walk will be in Gloucestershire, near-ish to Stroud, and you will be asked to meet each time at a specific location. We will help arrange car-sharing as required. Previous experiences of poetry walks suggest that the day ends well if it ends in the dry with some chat and refreshment, so while this is not obligatory, we shall try and find somewhere each time where this is possible.
THEMES, DATES and TIMES
AIR Saturday date to be confirmed, 10am - 1pm at Cam Long Down
EARTH Saturday 27th November, 10am - 1pm at Miserden
WATER Saturday 8th January, 10am - 1 pm at a wintry brook TBC
FIRE Saturday 5th February, 10am - 1 pm at a forge TBC
JOIN US!
You do not need to be an established writer to participate in these workshops - we welcome all voices, new and experienced - just send us one of your poems via email to dialectsubmissions@gmail.com with ‘Samhain to Imbolc walks’ stated in the subject line.
Please clearly indicate which workshop(s) you would like to participate in.
COST
Payable by PayPal or bank transfer:
£30 per 3 hour workshop.
£87 for 3 workshops.
£100 for all 4 workshops.
Amour 27
Michael Drayton
My Love makes hote the fire whose heat is spent,
The water moisture from my teares deriueth,
And my strong sighes the ayres weake force receiueth:
Thus love, tears, sighes, maintaine each one his element.
The fire, unto my love, compare a painted fire,
The water, to my teares as drops to Oceans be,
The ayre, unto my sighes as Eagle to the flie,
The passions of dispaire but ioyes to my desire.
Onely my love is in the fire ingraued,
Onely my teares by Oceans may be gessed,
Onely my sighes are by the ayre expressed;
Yet fire, water, ayre, of nature not depriued.
Whilst fire, water, ayre, twixt heauen and earth shal be,
My loue, my teares, my sighes, extinguisht cannot be.
