Sometimes you go to a writing festival and you feel that life is going to be different forever after. That’s how it was at Listowel. Such a rich few days.
Everything from the easy companionship from events to lunch to other events, the vitality of the pubs and Woulfe’s book store, the decorated windows and the gorgeousness of the town itself.
Not surprisingly the highlight for me was doing the series of Master Writing classes with Peter Fallon. I’ve loved his poetry for quite a while and now I’ve discovered the man; clever, humble, witty, kindhearted and a stunning poet. I think the group of us was so enriched by what he responded to in our poetry and the poetry of others.
I’ve been writing poetry for twenty years, but it is only now that I’m considering the lines of poetry as an auditory unit and from that stems the questions. What is the effect in the poem of this particular line? To achieve …. such and such an effect how should I shape the line, how should this line sound?
And so now I write with my PF eye and ear on what I’m doing. I keep another eye and ear out for future festivals of such quality and my third eye on the work of the writers I met and to whom we listened. Writing festivals at their best provide a way of living that I love; of complete immersion in the moment, a way of soaking it in and carrying it with you when you get on the plane and eventually arrive home and take up the pen at your own writing desk.