Creative Wiritng Club: Week Two

Today in CWC, as well as writing up our poems neatly (in felt tip on coloured paper), we also wrote Haikus.

Normal poetry is one thing, but Haikus? This was a challenge. We had three themes - Nature, Summer, and School. They all had to be positive, so no 'School sucks' Haikus. Here are mine:

Nature

Feathery fingers

Quiet whispers in your ear

Invisible friend

 

Summer

A golden flower

honeyed drops of bright pollen

scatter to the earth

 

 

School

Avid learners

wise teachers, sharing knowledge

A place of worship

Although Haikus really aren't my thing, I was pretty chuffed with how these turned out. Though maybe most people wouldn't consider school as a place of worship!

Creative Writing Club: Week One

I recently started going to the Creative Writing Club at the school I work at. I have started writing again but I thought I needed more inspiration if I was going to keep it up. Not to mention, I want to make myself known in the English department. My aspiration is to work my way up from TA to library assistant or similar, hence why I also did Year 9 Books and Beyond, a reading challenge. I also don't want to let my Creative Writing degree go to waste.

I'm not the only TA at CWC but most of the other attendees are Year 9 or below, a big change from University where I felt like a toddler doodling with crayons while everyone wrote masterpieces. This week, as it was so sunny, we went outside to the grass bank to write about summer.

Our task was to split our page into boxes and write about the five senses in an imaginative way.

Here are some of my lines:

Sight
The sun winks off car windscreens, like light off ocean waves.
Students are scattered across the field amongst sprinklings of daises and clovers.

Touch

The warm breeze brushes through my hair like a lovers caress.

Despite the warmth of the afternoon sun, the damp of the waterlogged earth creeps through the fabric of my dress.

Sound
Children's playful cheers are carried across the valley on the wind, so carefree after the captivity of school.

Smell
The air is warm and thick, bristling with ozone, bringing with it the threat of an early storm.
Fresh cut grass infuses the air as hundreds of people decide, as if connected, to mow their scraggly lawns.

Taste
My mouth is parched and the sheer azure of the sky makes me crave the cool splash of water.

After we wrote our lines we went around and shared them, 'magpie-ing' from each other, which meant nabbing the best lines other people wrote. Lots of the students had some really unique lines; I could never have written like that at their age, so I was thoroughly impressed.

We returned to the classroom and used our lines to write a poem. I baulked at the idea as poetry really isn't my thing, but I gave it a go anyway.

From the sea
over the hills
across the moors
it ruffles the emerald leaves of trees
ripples the delicate glass of ponds
helps the young birds take their first flight
With it follows
cut grass
fresh fields
greasy burgers,
the scents of summer come early.
Warm and demanding
it forces them out of
coats
jumpers
and scarves.
It pulls at skirts
tugs at shirts.
Runs its fingers through hair,
gentle as a lover,
as constant as a mother.
The wind brings the change
yet, he himself, is constant.
Never ending,
never leaving.

I didn't think it was too bad. Next time we'll be writing them up neat to put them on display in the corridor. In conclusion, CWC was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to going again!

Poets in the Spotlight - Poetry Competition

I just entered a writing competition for poetry; and I don't even like poetry! But I thought I should probably enter something and this didn't have any entry fees which is always nice. The competition is called Poets in the Spotlight by United Press:

Poets In The Spotlight (Closing Date: 26th April 2013)

There's a £100 prize to the winner of our latest free poetry competition - and you have three chances to win.

As well as choosing one winner we are going to publish the best of the rest in a brand new book.

The title of the competition is Poets In The Spotlight, but your entry doesn't have to be a poem on a fixed subject - you can let your imagination run free!

Your entry must be something you haven't sent to us before.

You can submit up to three poems of no more than 25 lines (including blank lines) and 160 words each.

You can enter online via our online submission form, or by post to:

Poets In The Spotlight, United Press Ltd, Admail 3735, London, EC1B 1JB (Just make sure you include your full name and address on your entry).

I just Googled 'poetry competitions' and that's what came up. There is a chance of being published which is what I'm most interested in. There was another competition from Poetic Republic where after you entered a piece you had to judge the others. It sounded good but I wasn't sure if I'd really have the time to do it, what with my dissertation due soon and all. Now I have to play the waiting game, and hope that I win, or at least get acknowledged.  

Before Christmas I entered a BBC Radio 4 competition and I think the results of that are in March, so fingers crossed! 

University Grades

This is a pretty braggy post. I got my Critical Evaluation for Creative Voice back today, and I won't lie, I was worried about what mark I was going to get. My Evaluation last year was 60%, so I wasn't too hopeful this year. However, I got 68% yay! Anyway, my friend said that she kept a record of all the grades she has got and I thought I would, too. I don't want to seem like a show off posting them on here, but it means I can link them to the exact pieces of work so you can see what I wrote and what grade I got for it. Also, if you can't show off your grades what's the point of getting them?

Year 2 Semester 2 so far...

Creative Voice: Critical Evaluation – 68%

Year 2 Semester 1

Media Writing: 1500 Word Critique of Article – 67%

Media Writing: 2000 Word Article – 65%

Short Story: Parody – 68%

Short Story: Creative Piece – 64%

Textual Intervention: Creative Piece – 72%

Textual Intervention: Rationale – 66%

Creating Short Screenplays: Film Script – 64%

Creating Short Screenplays: Essay – 65%

Year 1 Semester 2

Creative Non-Fiction: Creative Piece – 66%

Creative Non-Fiction: Essay – 54%

Creative Voice I: Critical Evaluation – 60%

Creative Voice I: Creative Piece – 68%

Creativity II: Exhibition Piece – 62%

Creativity II: Evaluation – 63%

Poetry and Poetic Expression: Creative Piece – 64%

Poetry and Poetic Expression: Rationale – 68%

Year 1 Semester 1

Language – Writing – Reading: Essay – 62%

Language – Writing – Reading: Portfolio of Writing Exercises– 53%

Fictional Writing: Creative Piece – 65%

Fictional Writing: Rationale – 63%

Creativity I: Presentation Evaluation – 63%

Creativity I: Research Essay – 68%

Script Writing: Essay – 64%

Script Writing: Pitch Presentation – 72%

My particular favourites are the Pitch Presentation; my Creativity I essay, which was on Oscar Wilde; my poetry pieces; my Creative Non-Fiction piece which was on Doctor Who; my Short Story Parody, and finally, my Textual Intervention piece, which was a First!

For I Will Consider My Dog J.D.

This is a poem inspired by Christopher Smart's 'For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry'. This was a quick task we had to do in class and I did my own version based on my dog J.D.

 For I Will Consider My Dog J.D.

For I will consider my dog J.D.

For he is the pest that destroys our house

For he can chew anything to pieces in minutes

For nothing is safe from his tiny jaws

For he has eaten the last puzzle piece

For he licked a hole in the expensive cardigan

For he chewed through many electrical cables

For his hunger is never satisfied

For he is small but his appetite huge

For he stands low but his bark is high

For his ears are large yet he never listens

For he is J.D. and that’s just who he is.

Femmes Damnées

This is the second part of this week's Poetry task. For this task we had to read 'Femmes Damnées', or 'Damned Women', by Charles Baudelaire. Now, this poem is all in French, and although I did a year of French I have no idea what any of it meant. But for this task that did not matter so much. After reading the poem - and probably pronouncing it all wrong - we had to then write what we thought it said or our own version, keeping with the theme of damned women. I found this a tricky task as I am now used to writing and reading sonnets that I don't know how to write a normal poem with no set rules. So, it oddly rhymes and has a strange rhythm to it, but it will have to do for now; I may come back to it.
Firstly, here's Baudelaire's French version:


Femmes damnées

Comme un bétail pensif sur le sable couchées,
Elles tournent leurs yeux vers l'horizon des mers,
Et leurs pieds se cherchent et leurs mains rapprochées
Ont de douces langueurs et des frissons amers.

Les unes, coeurs épris des longues confidences,
Dans le fond des bosquets où jasent les ruisseaux,
Vont épelant l'amour des craintives enfances
Et creusent le bois vert des jeunes arbrisseaux;

D'autres, comme des soeurs, marchent lentes et graves
À travers les rochers pleins d'apparitions,
Où saint Antoine a vu surgir comme des laves
Les seins nus et pourprés de ses tentations;

II en est, aux lueurs des résines croulantes,
Qui dans le creux muet des vieux antres païens
T'appellent au secours de leurs fièvres hurlantes,
Ô Bacchus, endormeur des remords anciens!

Et d'autres, dont la gorge aime les scapulaires,
Qui, recélant un fouet sous leurs longs vêtements,
Mêlent, dans le bois sombre et les nuits solitaires,
L'écume du plaisir aux larmes des tourments.

Ô vierges, ô démons, ô monstres, ô martyres,
De la réalité grands esprits contempteurs,
Chercheuses d'infini dévotes et satyres,
Tantôt pleines de cris, tantôt pleines de pleurs,

Vous que dans votre enfer mon âme a poursuivies,
Pauvres soeurs, je vous aime autant que je vous plains,
Pour vos mornes douleurs, vos soifs inassouvies,
Et les urnes d'amour dont vos grands coeurs sont pleins
— Charles Baudelaire

And here's my version:

Femmes Damnées

Their pale laps in which they languish,

Their profound and perfumed scent

Is hypnotising and caressing,

These are not innocent.

They are trouble and are tempting,

They feign naivety and simplicity,

The young voyager with not return

Across those horizons and back to home.

Artists, singers and merchants

All will meet the grave,

Those travellers that have ambitions

These temptresses will then stave.

Those who lure men from the loving light

And hand them silent pains,

They must endeavour this ancient remorse

To call out wicked names.

Sculptures that create the perfect beauty

Are neither safe from their wild wrath,

They are prone to fits of jealousy

And decay and destruction follow in their path.

O Virgin, O Demon, O Monster, O Martyr,

Those great spirits of contempt,

These are what they really are

Under their shadowy cloaks of deceit.

To follow their spirit is damning as hell,

Though to blame them would be cruel

They were born depraved and immoral

Just don’t become their willing fool.

 How was it?

Opening the Cage

This week we had two tasks for Poetry, but I shall post them serparately. This first one was to read 'Opening the Cage' by Edwin Morgan, here's what it is:

Opening the Cage: 14 Variations on 14 Words
"I have nothing to say and I am saying it and that is poetry." — John Cage

I have to say poetry and is that nothing and am I saying it
I am and I have poetry to say and is that nothing saying it
I am nothing and I have poetry to say and that is saying it
I that am saying poetry have nothing and it is I and to say
And I say that I am to have poetry and saying it is nothing
I am poetry and nothing and saying it is to say that I have
To have nothing is poetry and I am saying that and I say it
Poetry is saying I have nothing and I am to say that and it
Saying nothing I am poetry and I have to say that and it is
It is and I am and I have poetry saying say that to nothing
It is saying poetry to nothing and I say I have and am that
Poetry is saying I have it and I am nothing and to say that
And that nothing is poetry I am saying and I have to say it
Saying poetry is nothing and to that I say I am and have it

 

So what we had to do was write our own 14 word sentence and replicate this style. Now, our lecturer didn't say what we were about to do so my sentence wasn't that interesting; in fact it was totally mundane! It is a sentence about what I was going to do after my lecture. So here is my version: 

I Will Be Going To Town Later To Buy Some Things That I Need

I will be going to town later to buy some things that I need

Going to town I will be later some things that I need to buy

To town I need to buy some things that I will be going later

Later to town I will be going buy some things that I need to

Some things that I need to town I will be going later to buy

Buy things later that I need to be going to some town I will

Town to be going later I will some need to that I buy things

I need to buy some things that to town I later will be going

Will I be going to some town later to buy things that I need

Some town I will be later need to buy things that I going to

I later will be going to some town to buy things that I need

To buy some things later I need going to town that I will be

Some going to town will later I be need to buy things that I

I will be going to town later to buy some things that I need

What do you think?

To Sleep

For our poetry task this week we had to write a sonnet about sleep. Now, this seems like the easiest task we've had to do so far, but I felt it was actually the hardest! Apart from being about sleep we had to use old Romantic flowery language, which my lecturer had been moaning about and saying that we shouldn't use; so this was all very odd. However, I don't think I'm too good at this fluffy language and I actually prefer contempory. Oh well. Let's see how you think I did:

Sleep Sonnet

O my dearest sleep why do you desert me

When I desire your touch all through the night

Yet you leave me feeling so lost and so lonely

Still you tempt and you tease till the sunrise does light

My bed is my dungeon till you come to free me

Your feather light fingers swiftly pick at the lock

And my eyes start to flutter at the dreams I then see

But a jump, and a breath and I awake with a shock!

Alas, my dear sleep you are not one to please

I give up, I shan’t stay, I shall leave you indeed

But you’ll lure me right back with grace and with ease

And I’ll follow you willingly, I can’t even plead!

Though I know it will happen the very next day

I can’t help but enjoy these games you do play.