The Climate of Change Poetry Workshops, 2024 – UK evening

The Climate of Change 

This is a time of great change, and writers are at the forefront of describing and envisaging change.  We will explore cherishing and re-envisaging our world. We need innovation, understanding, adaptation and resilience as our climate changes and as we try to do what we can.

Many environmental problems are systemic, built into our culture, institutions and ways of thinking. These workshops focus on exploring how we think, how we feel and what we do, our assumptions, ideas and dreams. Writing together can be more enjoyable, nurturing, rewarding and productive.

The workshops are for anyone who has a passion for the topic and for poetry. Ideally, you have some experience of writing.

Book the series to get the most out of it or book individual sessions. Small groups: maximum 12 people.

This Term’s Topics

Each term of three workshops, we explore new topics, usually one related to our relationship with the living world, one exploring cultural and political systems and a third that examines an aspect of our daily life.

18th April, Creaturely Connection:  Other animals are more than ‘useful metaphors’, anthropomorphic characters, romantic or cute images.  They are more than how they can be used or dominated by humans. How do we creatively express our connection to the other creatures that we share the web of life with?  How we speak of them really matters in the context of the Anthropocene.  What perspectives limit or enhance our understanding and connection? How can we be more alive to the wisdom of other animals and the strong bonds that are possible?

16th May, Nurturing Cities and Towns: Wherever you live, cities and towns are key to our culture, lifestyles and carbon footprints. How do we envisage our cities and towns in the Anthropocene?  What kinds of spaces and places for nature could there be? How might we live a more connected, more human, more climate-friendly and nature-led life in cities and towns? What sort of connections do we have with cities and towns if we live in rural or remote areas? What we nurture in our cities and towns matters.  Even in a big city, there’s still the possibility of interaction with and encouragement of nature. Glimpses of nature are crucial to the next generation, wellbeing and sustainability. Explore poems about cities and towns with an environmental lens and grow your own places of nature and sustainability.

13th June: The Nature of Change:  In a time of great change, how we process change as individuals and collectively, how we become more resilient to change, will be crucial into our future. Can we push for more positive changes and cope better with the negative ones we may face? Can a poem change you? There’s been many positive changes thorough history to inspire us, and many poems written about personal, political and environmental change. Find unique ways to write about change and the human condition, the change we need, the change that’s difficult, the change that is wise, hopeful and can be positive and uplifting.

Dates & Timing: UK evening

Thursdays: 18th April, 16th May, 13th June     

6.30pm to 9pm UK time 

Workshops are 2.5hours long – login 15mins early to settle in and for social chat.

A useful link for checking other time zones against UK time: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html 

If you’d prefer workshops in the UK morning time (suitable for Australian time zones too) CLICK HERE

Cost

£GBP50 for two sessions or £26 per session – there is a cost effective automatic conversion via STRIPE for other currencies.

About the workshops

On the Monday before we meet, you’ll receive poems and tips on research to consider. I recommend you spend a bit of time on the assignments in advance to get the most out of it. However, if you’re super busy, just come along to the workshops fresh and immerse in the assignments.

I’m encouraging research to help us think differently, more deeply. You might want to develop your own areas of interest or research and apply them to the assignments where possible over the course of the year.

We read carefully curated poems with an environmental lens. There are usually two writing exercises to explore fresh perspectives on the environmental crisis/climate change inspired by your pack of poems and quotes, and one writing exercise focused on self care and resilience . There is also the opportunity to share actions, campaigns, inspirations, book recommendations if you wish. Self care and resilience, agency and action are also part of the work in The Climate of Change.

These are enjoyable international groups on Zoom. Expect rich discussion and inspiring ideas.

You can enroll in the workshops either in UK evenings (suitable for US time zones) – see information and enrollment below for this. OR you can enroll in the workshops taking place in UK morning time  – find the details and enrolment for this on another page here. 

Quotes from The Climate of Change workshops

Thank you so much for last night’s workshop – it was just what I needed.  Unlocking joy and connection with nature.  Your suggestion to do some preparation really helped, and I enjoyed the group – so varied, focused and authentic.  Sarah Mnatzaganian

It was great to work within a supportive community of writers on the most pressing issues facing humanity at this time. A kind of magic happened within the discipline of the challenge. I found a joy in writing I didn’t know I’d lost, returning to writing freely with freedom to experiment and play. Anne Enith Cooper

I absolutely loved it and feel I was positively stretched as a writer. Patricia Foster McKenley

The Climate of Change Poetry Challenge is consistently stimulating and inspiring. Writing environmental poems is a way to take action in a like-minded community. Don’t hesitate, participate!  Nicole Rain Sellers

Really great challenge, Cath – both in terms of the issues to tackle and the assignments set. I also liked having the self-care and practical tasks. Melinda

Wow, thankyou for this gift of motivation and for the richness of your observations about writing for this topic. Bell

I loved your course. Your assignments are so interesting and really helped me dig deep. You have so much enthusiasm and the encouragement makes me feel at home. You have a wonderful depth of perception for the poems we studied. Christina

… you have promoted a good balance between the serious, the fun and the self-care aspects. Thank you!  Gabrielle

Thank you for all your hard work in developing this course – whilst the topic is so difficult to face up to, it’s really important and helpful to do it in a supportive and encouraging environment which this has been. Ali Walters

About the Facilitator 

Australian Cath Drake is based in London. She’s was an award-winning environmental journalist and writer in Australia for a decade with a post-graduate qualification in environmental science. Her poetry collection ‘The Shaking City’ (Seren Books) was highly commended in the 2020 Forward Prizes and longlisted in the international Laurel Prize for best collection of nature or environmental poetry. It was described by TS Eliot winner Philip Gross as ‘a guide to staying clear-eyed, combative and caring in unsettling times.’. It follows ‘Sleeping with Rivers’ which won the Seren/Mslexia poetry pamphlet prize and was a Poetry Book Society choice. Cath’s accolades include 2x  second and once commended in the Ginkgo eco-poetry prize, and short-listed for the Manchester Poetry Prize. Cath hosts The Verandah, online poetry teaching and events. She is also a mindfulness teacher.

If these workshops sell out CONTACT ME using this form TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITING LIST – I often draw on the waiting list