Fangirl Weekend: Performance Poetry with Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen
The group outside of Ty Newydd
When Hollie McNish posted on her Instagram that she was running a weekend writing retreat at Ty Newydd Writing Centre I booked straight onto it.
I see Hollie’s tour whenever she’s in town and am lucky enough to have seen her with support from Michael Pedersen three times in three years. I love how they can both make you laugh and cry in the same breath. Their show is a tonic, a salve. They make you feel the breadth of human emotion within a space that feels like the safety of long and fast friends.
That is the magic of their performance and their poetry. I wanted to rub alongside them in the hope that some of their magic would transfer onto me.
My weekend started on Thursday night at the Liverpool Playhouse watching Hollie and Michael perform. I could barely sleep that night knowing I was driving over to Criccieth the next day to meet them in the flesh, knowing that at the end of the weekend we would be bezzie mates and they’d be getting invites to my hypothetical wedding.
This post is going to provide a brief overview of the two workshops delivered by Hollie and Michael at Ty Newydd, followed by some thoughts about the weekend as a whole, a list of takeaways and a timetable of events.
If you’re going to Ty Newydd and want some recommendations, drop your questions in the comments. Or, if you’d like me to expand on any of the takeaways, let me know and I’ll write a longer post.
Hollie McNish Workshop
What happened here? Hollie is magic. This was a lesson in editing poems and practicing using your voice.
It’s awkward being in a group of strangers and sharing your poetry. Hollie got us out of our heads and into our bodies immediately by asking us to fold and tear a piece of paper. Then, we had to come up with two really boring questions.
First editing lesson: cross one of the questions out
First voice lesson: stand up and read out your question
It was low stakes. The question was supposed to be boring. We weren’t trying to impress with our command of language. But it did get us laughing. We were becoming easier with ourselves.
As we went around the circle we had to write our answers to everyone’s questions on a sheet of paper.
Second editing lesson: settle on five answers, cross everything else out
Second voice lesson: whisper one of your answers into your neighbour’s ear
The activities went on like this until we had 8 pieces of paper which we had got to writing and performing in some way. We whittled them down to 5. Then, off to a quiet corner to smash the content together and create a poem.
The first time we read our poetry aloud, we were all standing and reading at the same time. Again, low stakes. No one could hear us. We were reading for ourselves.
Finally, somehow, we retired to the poetry library to read our poems to the group, happy to use our voices, happy to share some deep feelings.
I cried so much. I wrote a great poem about butter. Poetry is the best.
Top takeaways from Hollie’s workshop:
Read poem drafts aloud and listen to instinct on what needs changing
Always be tweaking
Michael Pedersen Workshop
Michael’s workshop was a masterclass in you’ve got to read poetry to write poetry. In quick fire rounds we listened to three poems - read by the poet - and then wrote a poem in response.
The themes were:
What is poetry
This is just to say… (our own backhanded apologies)
The future is…
Love and hate
Animal language
Grief
Michael’s passion for language is palpable but he also finds it ridiculous and fun and silly. We journeyed through all emotions, crying with laughter as someone performed the song of two hedgehogs copulating and transitioned with a bang into sitting with grief.
He is deep in the conversation of poetry and poetic legacy and gave us a glimpse of how we can be inspired by the poets that have come before us and those who continue to push the boundaries of language.
Pair this workshop with Roger Robinson’s advice to read 80 poems for every 1 poem you write and Austin Kleon’s advice to read within your creative family tree. I’ve written more about this here.
Top takeaways from Michael’s workshop:
Opening a set with a love poem is a political act
Get to what the poem is about underneath
Reflections
When I reflect on the weekend I think about how far I’ve come as a writer and a poet. The Lorna of 12 months ago would be thrilled with the amount of time I dedicate to my practice and the depth with which I have taken my craft.
I complain a lot about my job, but actually, I am grateful that it’s entirely dull and I don’t have a lot of meetings so I can watch lectures and listen to podcasts or audiobooks and allow myself time to be inspired.
On Sunday night when we got into bed, my boyfriend told me he was proud of me for taking the steps towards making my dreams a reality. That, so often people talk about wanting something but very rarely go after it.
We were a majority female group. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, when women get together, away from the male gaze, something magical happens. There is an uplifting, a chance to bare your shame and your dreams without judgement.
I am proud of everyone I met over the weekend. There was courage in the air. There was a feeling of expansive desire. We encouraged each other, we giggled, we lamented, we shed a skin and glimpsed what a different life could look like.
Something I’d like to reflect on, is how to bring more silliness into my creative process. I can get quite serious and focused on getting to my goals but it’s important to take a step back and enjoy the ride. This group of women reminded me of that.
A stream of takeaways:
The Poetry Refuse Sack - a document where you dump all the parts of poems that have been edited out of finished pieces
Self-publishing is OK - people want to take something home with them after a gig
The context is the performance - people love to hear the inspiration behind the poem. People get excited about other people being excited.
Write as if you’re sharing stories around the dinner table so that your writing becomes a conversation.
Close your eyes and inhabit what you’re writing about.
There’s so much poetry. You don’t have to be everything.
Use metaphors from your own life, e.g. the colour of a pot noodle
Can this metaphor be better
Words about animals should be alive
A breakdown of the weekend:
Friday
2pm Arrive at Dylan’s, Criccieth and eat a scrummy lunch of Mussels Mariniere
3.30pm Arrive at Ty Wewydd, Lora shows me to my room and gives me a tour
4pm Nap and read in my room
6.15pm Go down to the dining room, hoping I’m not the first one there (I’m the first one there)
6.30pm Everyone gathers. Tony, the chef, gives us a rundown of how the food will work over the weekend and serves a scrummy dish of spaghetti bolognese. (Is Tony the real poet?)
9.15pm Head up to the poetry Library. Hollie and Michael give us an intro and read us some poems, then we go around the group and introduce ourselves.
10.30pm Bed. I can’t sleep. My brain is whirring. I write in my notebook and get to sleep around midnight.
Saturday
7.30am Meet in the kitchen in our swimming kit and head down to the river for a dip
8.30am Boiled eggs and toast for breakfast
9.30am Hollie McNish workshop
1pm Lunch
2pm AMA with Hollie and Michael
4pm Pub time!
5.30pm Quiet time. I spend a bit of time in my room and then head to the poetry library pulling books randomly off the shelf, discovering new poets
6.30pm Dinner is veggie thai curry. Pudding is this wonderful sugary cake served with strawberries and cream.
9.15pm Michael and Hollie give us a 20 minute performance each then we each perform a poem or two.
10.30pm a few of us stay up drinking wine and chat shit
Midnight. Bed and sleep.
Sunday
6.30am I wake up with poems in my head so get up and jot down a few notes
7.30am Meet in the kitchen in our swimming kit and drive down to the beach for a dip. Dip is cut short due to all the jellyfish!
8.30am Boiled eggs and toast for breakfast
9.30am Michael Pedersen workshop
1pm Lunch
1.30pm Photo outside the house and start to say goodbye. No one wants to leave.
2pm I’m in the car and on my way home
I’m still vibrating with everything I learned and the friendships that I made last weekend. I have renewed and refreshed determination and a whole bunch of poems yet to write.
