Over the past few years in audio production I’ve developed a set of quite unique skills for a writer. One of these is listening and an ear for rhythm, flow, and expression, which was put to good use this week when I was asked to judge the Northumberland WI ‘Reading Aloud’ competition.
There were 10 teams in all, each with 3 members. The first member of the team had to read a set poem, Abra-Cadabra by Grace Nichols, an evocative telling of Guyanese childhood memories of a wonderful Mother. The second person read a poem of their own choice, these ranged from the comedic Pam Ayres to the morose Ted Hughes and one person even wrote and read her own poem based on a WW1 Veteran who returned to her village of Thropton after the war. The third member of the team had to read a piece which was unseen. These were extracts from Philippa Gregory’s book on Henry VIII’s 5th wife Katherine Howard, written in the 1st person and therefore to be read ‘in character’ – a tall order which most delivered extremely well given that they only took the piece out of the envelope as they stood up to read.
In addition there were 3 teams who read choral pieces, that is performed as a group their own choice poem – all wonderfully humerous verses to round off the evening: The Akond of Swat by Edward Lear, The Ladies of the Charity Shop by Peter Wyton and A Ballad of John Silver by John Masefield. For this, the ladies delighted in dressing up and all delivered great performances.
My work was to make notes as the evening progressed and to give marks which would determine who went through to the final in May – this was quite a responsibility! It was clear that everyone had put a tremendous amount of practice into their pieces and I ensured that the feedback I gave to each person and team was kind and constructive.
Overall I spent 2 very entertaining evenings, with the talented ladies of the WI who clearly have many more strings to their bow than baking cakes.
I always look forward to Shepherd’s Dene. As soon as you climb out of the car and walk up the drive to the birds and the wind singing in the trees, you can’t help but feel an inner calm. Approaching the Arts and Crafts house, which appears to have sprung up seemlessly from the garden, you ring the bell and turn the handle of a solid oak door which gives the reassuring clunk of an old fashioned latch.
Inside the house, nothing appears to have changed in over 100 years, it has retained it’s wonderful wooden panelling and stone carving. Today we are based in the Newall room for our retreat, light and airy with tables for our laptops and those characteristic Arts and Crafts leaded windows looking out across the garden and valley beyond.
We also have the freedom to wander and find a window seat or a settee or the sheltered Summerhouse in the grounds and then there’s the lunch in the dining room with its tudor fireplace and did I mention chocolate cake in the afternoon?
There are eight writers booked today, each with their own work. Despite playing hostess and making sure everyone is happy (an easy task as the Shepherd’s Dene Staff are so accomodating), I even manage some writing myself.
Today I decide to work on my Oriental Museum / Nissan exhibition project. I go through the notes of the fact finding tour that I did earlier this year around the Sunderland Nissan Plant – its vastness and automation a far cry from my present environment. Nevertheless, the space and time here allows my mind to form a creative narrative to the tour in the Japanese verse form of Haiku (3 lines verses of 5/7/5 syllables per line)
Take Care: open stair
Clang along open gantry
Feel the heat, heavy air
To see the paint shop
Eyes strain through stained plastic strips
And condensation
A spectre floats by
Silent carcass of Qashqai
Initiation rite
It’s early days yet but I’m looking forward to developing that further.
Late afternoon, the daylight fades over the garden and it’s time for home. Everyone agrees they’ve had a really productive day with their writing and can I arrange a summer date?
That’s in process and in the meantime here are some more up and coming retreats in amazing places with time for you and your writing!
Our latest event was a slight departure from the usual as we kickstarted 2015 with a Creative New Year Workshop. This was a collaboration between myself and graphic designer / illustrator Carrie Dennison of Press for Design and Dendryad Art, which was held in the fabulous Tom Cowie Centre at Willow Burn Hospice. This room has 2 large windows from which we looked out onto fields and woods to observe sunshine, gales, rain, snow, and a rainbow within the space of a few hours.
In the morning we explored the theme of Janus the God of beginnings, transtions, gates, doors, doorways, passages and endings and used this as an inspiration for our writing. It was a real privilege to hear the group’s work even though not everyone had written creatively before.
For the afternoon, Carrie continued the theme of January and new starts and everyone made a writing prompts calendar in the shape of a carousel and decorated them with lino printing. This was a chance to see everyone’s own individual expression through shape and colour, not to mention getting our hands messy!
I’d like to share some of the comments from the day:
‘Thanks fora fabulous day’.
‘Safe, inspirational and fun. Loved it!’
‘A great opportunity to share perspectives and ideas with interesting people in a relaxed and supportive environment’.
‘A memorable and fun day’.
Photos by Rachel Cochrane and Carrie Dennison
For Carrie’s lovely colourful blog on the workshop CLICK HERE
https://rachelcochrane.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Door-Belsay400.jpg533400Rachel Cochranehttps://rachelcochrane.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Rachel_cochrane_logo_hori_2.jpgRachel Cochrane2015-01-17 21:17:552015-01-18 23:09:38PAST WORKSHOP: Willow Burn Creative New Year Workshop
Reading Aloud
/in Reach out! /by Rachel CochraneOver the past few years in audio production I’ve developed a set of quite unique skills for a writer. One of these is listening and an ear for rhythm, flow, and expression, which was put to good use this week when I was asked to judge the Northumberland WI ‘Reading Aloud’ competition.
There were 10 teams in all, each with 3 members. The first member of the team had to read a set poem, Abra-Cadabra by Grace Nichols, an evocative telling of Guyanese childhood memories of a wonderful Mother. The second person read a poem of their own choice, these ranged from the comedic Pam Ayres to the morose Ted Hughes and one person even wrote and read her own poem based on a WW1 Veteran who returned to her village of Thropton after the war. The third member of the team had to read a piece which was unseen. These were extracts from Philippa Gregory’s book on Henry VIII’s 5th wife Katherine Howard, written in the 1st person and therefore to be read ‘in character’ – a tall order which most delivered extremely well given that they only took the piece out of the envelope as they stood up to read.
In addition there were 3 teams who read choral pieces, that is performed as a group their own choice poem – all wonderfully humerous verses to round off the evening: The Akond of Swat by Edward Lear, The Ladies of the Charity Shop by Peter Wyton and A Ballad of John Silver by John Masefield. For this, the ladies delighted in dressing up and all delivered great performances.
My work was to make notes as the evening progressed and to give marks which would determine who went through to the final in May – this was quite a responsibility! It was clear that everyone had put a tremendous amount of practice into their pieces and I ensured that the feedback I gave to each person and team was kind and constructive.
Overall I spent 2 very entertaining evenings, with the talented ladies of the WI who clearly have many more strings to their bow than baking cakes.
Past event: Shepherd’s Dene Writers’ Retreat 1st March 2015
/in Get Writing!, Uncategorised, Writers' Retreats, Writing Events /by Rachel CochraneI always look forward to Shepherd’s Dene. As soon as you climb out of the car and walk up the drive to the birds and the wind singing in the trees, you can’t help but feel an inner calm. Approaching the Arts and Crafts house, which appears to have sprung up seemlessly from the garden, you ring the bell and turn the handle of a solid oak door which gives the reassuring clunk of an old fashioned latch.
Inside the house, nothing appears to have changed in over 100 years, it has retained it’s wonderful wooden panelling and stone carving. Today we are based in the Newall room for our retreat, light and airy with tables for our laptops and those characteristic Arts and Crafts leaded windows looking out across the garden and valley beyond.
We also have the freedom to wander and find a window seat or a settee or the sheltered Summerhouse in the grounds and then there’s the lunch in the dining room with its tudor fireplace and did I mention chocolate cake in the afternoon?
There are eight writers booked today, each with their own work. Despite playing hostess and making sure everyone is happy (an easy task as the Shepherd’s Dene Staff are so accomodating), I even manage some writing myself.
Today I decide to work on my Oriental Museum / Nissan exhibition project. I go through the notes of the fact finding tour that I did earlier this year around the Sunderland Nissan Plant – its vastness and automation a far cry from my present environment. Nevertheless, the space and time here allows my mind to form a creative narrative to the tour in the Japanese verse form of Haiku (3 lines verses of 5/7/5 syllables per line)
Take Care: open stair
Clang along open gantry
Feel the heat, heavy air
To see the paint shop
Eyes strain through stained plastic strips
And condensation
A spectre floats by
Silent carcass of Qashqai
Initiation rite
It’s early days yet but I’m looking forward to developing that further.
Late afternoon, the daylight fades over the garden and it’s time for home. Everyone agrees they’ve had a really productive day with their writing and can I arrange a summer date?
That’s in process and in the meantime here are some more up and coming retreats in amazing places with time for you and your writing!
Saturday 28th March Writers’ Retreat at Gallery 45, Felton, Northumberland
Tuesday 12th May Writers’ Retreat at The Red Lion, Alnmouth
Auckland Castle – details soon
PAST WORKSHOP: Willow Burn Creative New Year Workshop
/in Get Writing!, Uncategorised, Writing Events /by Rachel CochraneOur latest event was a slight departure from the usual as we kickstarted 2015 with a Creative New Year Workshop. This was a collaboration between myself and graphic designer / illustrator Carrie Dennison of Press for Design and Dendryad Art, which was held in the fabulous Tom Cowie Centre at Willow Burn Hospice. This room has 2 large windows from which we looked out onto fields and woods to observe sunshine, gales, rain, snow, and a rainbow within the space of a few hours.
In the morning we explored the theme of Janus the God of beginnings, transtions, gates, doors, doorways, passages and endings and used this as an inspiration for our writing. It was a real privilege to hear the group’s work even though not everyone had written creatively before.
For the afternoon, Carrie continued the theme of January and new starts and everyone made a writing prompts calendar in the shape of a carousel and decorated them with lino printing. This was a chance to see everyone’s own individual expression through shape and colour, not to mention getting our hands messy!
I’d like to share some of the comments from the day:
‘Thanks for a fabulous day’.
‘Safe, inspirational and fun. Loved it!’
‘A great opportunity to share perspectives and ideas with interesting people in a relaxed and supportive environment’.
‘A memorable and fun day’.
Photos by Rachel Cochrane and Carrie Dennison
For Carrie’s lovely colourful blog on the workshop CLICK HERE