‘Where time and space bend and ply’: at Stones Barn #3
The main difference is that, unlike the notion put out in Arvon’s infancy by John Moat, John Fairfax and Ted Hughes – that is professional writers should live together with amateurs for a week in the same space and grow as one – at Stones Barn there is no in-house accommodation except for the tutor. Students are farmed out to nearby pubs and – yes - to farms. However, like Arvon, Stones Barn provides a total immersion of an experience: the workshops take place all day; there is space for performance and play; and every night the tutor, students along with Maddy Prior and her family and friends, dine together, either in an excellent local pub, or in the barn itself – which is transformed into a candlelit dining room (one with excellent acoustics for music or reading aloud). Workshops take place at some pace – within the three days I was there I did nine workshops, which suits my way of doing things and seemed to suit the poets. In fact, towards the end of the course which lasted barely two-and-a-half days, I felt we could have kept going for another four or five – emerging no doubt slightly art-deranged but with a lot of poems written and read. That said that short time felt a lot longer – not through boredom but through concentration and heightened attention. That little dell where the barn sits is where time and space bend and ply. What better site for a course about Ecopoetry? I was tutoring at Arvon only ten days before teaching at Stones Barn, and I noticed that Arvon is innovating hard when it comes to the type of courses it
is choosing to run. Stones Barn is in a similar state of innovation; the conversations between Maddy and her friends often turned on the subject of making the courses even better and sharper – although they are obviously exceptionally strong already. Stones Barn’s innovations may have the legs to run faster because of the vision that guides the place. I wish both Stones Barn and Arvon all the very best, and celebrate the connection made between The Poetry School and Stones Barn – this was clever and visionary organisation by both.
David Morley
26 Apr 2008 09:00
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Tags: Poetry The Practice Of Poetry
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Sue
I was wondering if there is any way of sending Emails that were sent to me on to you if I think they would be appropriate. They’re Emails that were sent to me at work and I have sent them home to myself because I wasn’t sure if it was a bone fide thing to send work Emails to a person who doesn’t work in the same place.
26 Apr 2008, 09:30
Sue
I meant bona fida.
26 Apr 2008, 09:35
David Morley
Hi Sue
Are these e-mails to Stones Barn? If so, then send them across sure.
28 Apr 2008, 13:39
Sue
No, David that’s my point, the Emails are to me and they have other peoples names on them so I wondered if there was a way of sending them to Stones Barn without forwarding the names so as not to betray confidences. I know how to cut and paste in Word but not in Emails as I only use this medium for basic communication and nothing very elaborate.There is one particular one I received which I think would be appropriate for you and your friends at Stones Barn because it’s very inspirational and is relevant to the work you do there.
29 Apr 2008, 22:59
David Morley
Print the e-mails, scissor off names, post to Stones Barn – to their address on the net.
29 Apr 2008, 23:28
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