Brian split his workshop into two sections. The first dealt
with experiences as being Renfrewshire’s ‘Makar’. The second section was
preparation for the club’s forthcoming poetry competition.
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Brian was appointed by Renfrewshire Council in 2018, as
their Tannahill Makar (Poet Laureate) for three years. To live up to the role,
he appeared dressed in his Tannahill tartan trews and outlined the life and
work of Robert Tannahill.
Robert Tannahill was born in Paisley
in 1774 and from being a working class weaver, won international acclaim as a poet
and musician.
Part of Brian’s ambassadorial role is to conduct poetry
workshops and lectures at schools and libraries and perform readings at
book-fests and other literary events. When asked by the council to create
poetry for a particular event or subject, he gives himself free rein to research,
explore and interview. In doing so, he is inspired by the people he meets and
is then is able to write from a world he knows.
He is currently working on a piece to commemorate the
ninetieth anniversary of the Glen Cinema Fire Disaster on 31st
December 1929. It resulted in over a hundred children killed and injured.
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The second part of the workshop was aimed at preparations
for a forthcoming Poetry Competition for Erskine Writers with a theme of ‘A
Renfrewshire Ramble’.
Brian’s worksheets had sections for :- Clusters, Memory Map and Freewrite.
The Clusters were to contain headings (often one word) of
different aspects of the ramble that might be included in the poem.
The Memory map contained notes and maybe sketches of sights,
sounds, smells etc which might be experienced during the ramble,
The final Freewrite section held unedited first thoughts of
phrases, sentences and notes of what might become actual lines of the poetry.
These three sections would be the initial raw material on
which the final poem would be based.
The whole talk was bound together with anecdotes, experiences
and questions answered.
Hillary thanked Brian for his talk during which he outlined
an interesting and practical approach to the art of writing poetry.
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Next week;
Workshop - Pete Marrison -
Where do you get your ideas?
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