Waterlands: creative writing workshop
23 MARCH / 3 PM – 5 PM / FREE, REGISTER
Spaces are limited. If you’re unable to attend, please return your ticket at Eventbrite
Join us for an afternoon workshop exploring eco-poetry and creative writing, curated and led by tutors and writers Maria Isakova Bennett and Yvonne Reddick.
Explore the waterfront and draw inspiration from the Mersey, its estuary, the sea, and surrounding landscapes. We’ll reflect on observations, change, climate, and read watery poems. Participants will write at least two new drafts of their own.
The workshop will be followed by an evening of poetry and photographs, 6 – 8 pm: Yvonne from her collection Burning Season, Bloodaxe; nature poems from writers from Life Rooms, Southport, Maria and Yvonne from their poetry and photo-essay and Mersey/ Alt work Illustrated by Ron Davies, photographer – Please see separate events page to book tickets for the evening.
Maria Isakova Bennett is a teacher, artist and writer. She lives and works in Liverpool where she is Writer-in-Residence for The Life Rooms, Mersey Care NHS Trust, a member of The Windows Project, book reviews editor for Orbis Magazine, and Merseyside Stanza Rep. Maria’s publications include Painting the Mersey in 17 Canvases (Hazel Press, 2022); and an o an x (Hazel Press, 2023). Maria founded and creates the hand-stitched poetry project, Coast to Coast to Coast, has a Peggy Poole Award, a New Writing North Award, and a collaborative art work and pamphlet mira with poet John Glenday. Maria and Yvonne with Ron Davies, photographer, have created a collaborative photo-essay exploring the Mersey and Alt rivers.
More on Maria and her work:
an o an x [Hazel Press, November, 2023]
Latest Writing- Painting the Mersey in 17 Canvases
Coast to Coast to Coast Hand-Stitched Journals
Yvonne Reddick is a poet, nature writer and environmental humanities researcher. Her publications include Burning Season (Bloodaxe, 2023), Ted Hughes: Environmentalist and Ecopoet (Palgrave, 2017) and Anthropocene Poetry (Palgrave, 2023). She is the recipient of awards from the Poetry Society, New Writing North and Creative Future. She won The Laurel Prize for Best First UK Collection of Ecopoetry for Burning Season, whose title poem also won a prize in the Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry. Yvonne’s poetry appears in The Guardian Review, The Poetry Review and The New Statesman. Recent work includes the wildlife documentary, Searching for Snow Hares, a collaboration with the filmmaker Aleksander Domanski.
More on Yvonne and her work:
The Laurel Prize Shortlist Yvonne Reddick
Ron Davies has worked as a professional commercial and fine art photographer. He is well known for his photographs of Liverpool and the city’s environs, many of which have been published in annual reports, books, calendars and postcards. A major project since 2005 has been photographing Another Place, Antony Gormley’s installation of 100 Iron Men on Crosby Beach. He is inspired to portray the work of the artist in a way which captures the feel and spirit of the installation, and the atmosphere of the Sefton coastline.
Image by Ron Davies
We encourage you to use public transport or carpooling when getting to the events.
Open Eye Gallery is a short walk from the Liverpool ONE shopping centre and the Albert Dock.
By train. We are 20 minutes walk from Lime Street station. James Street station, served by Wirral Line trains, is a two minute walk. Moorfields station, served by the Northern and Wirral Lines, is a five minute walk. Visit Merseytravel for details of local train services.
By bus. The nearest bus and coach station is at Liverpool ONE, served by National Express coaches. Merseytravel has details of local bus services.
By ferry. The gallery is two minutes walk from the Pier Head Ferry Terminal, from which Mersey Ferries run regular services to the Wirral.
By bicycle. There are bicycle bays close to the gallery, opposite the entrance to the Museum of Liverpool, beside the Great Western Railway building.
If you wish to offset the carbon footprint of your travel, you can do it with Carbon Neutral Britain, Carbon Footprint, Forest Carbon, My Carbon Plan or any other project that you trust.
23 MARCH / 3 PM – 5 PM / FREE, REGISTER
Spaces are limited. If you’re unable to attend, please return your ticket at Eventbrite
Join us for an afternoon workshop exploring eco-poetry and creative writing, curated and led by tutors and writers Maria Isakova Bennett and Yvonne Reddick.
Explore the waterfront and draw inspiration from the Mersey, its estuary, the sea, and surrounding landscapes. We’ll reflect on observations, change, climate, and read watery poems. Participants will write at least two new drafts of their own.
The workshop will be followed by an evening of poetry and photographs, 6 – 8 pm: Yvonne from her collection Burning Season, Bloodaxe; nature poems from writers from Life Rooms, Southport, Maria and Yvonne from their poetry and photo-essay and Mersey/ Alt work Illustrated by Ron Davies, photographer – Please see separate events page to book tickets for the evening.
Maria Isakova Bennett is a teacher, artist and writer. She lives and works in Liverpool where she is Writer-in-Residence for The Life Rooms, Mersey Care NHS Trust, a member of The Windows Project, book reviews editor for Orbis Magazine, and Merseyside Stanza Rep. Maria’s publications include Painting the Mersey in 17 Canvases (Hazel Press, 2022); and an o an x (Hazel Press, 2023). Maria founded and creates the hand-stitched poetry project, Coast to Coast to Coast, has a Peggy Poole Award, a New Writing North Award, and a collaborative art work and pamphlet mira with poet John Glenday. Maria and Yvonne with Ron Davies, photographer, have created a collaborative photo-essay exploring the Mersey and Alt rivers.
More on Maria and her work:
an o an x [Hazel Press, November, 2023]
Latest Writing- Painting the Mersey in 17 Canvases
Coast to Coast to Coast Hand-Stitched Journals
Yvonne Reddick is a poet, nature writer and environmental humanities researcher. Her publications include Burning Season (Bloodaxe, 2023), Ted Hughes: Environmentalist and Ecopoet (Palgrave, 2017) and Anthropocene Poetry (Palgrave, 2023). She is the recipient of awards from the Poetry Society, New Writing North and Creative Future. She won The Laurel Prize for Best First UK Collection of Ecopoetry for Burning Season, whose title poem also won a prize in the Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry. Yvonne’s poetry appears in The Guardian Review, The Poetry Review and The New Statesman. Recent work includes the wildlife documentary, Searching for Snow Hares, a collaboration with the filmmaker Aleksander Domanski.
More on Yvonne and her work:
The Laurel Prize Shortlist Yvonne Reddick
Ron Davies has worked as a professional commercial and fine art photographer. He is well known for his photographs of Liverpool and the city’s environs, many of which have been published in annual reports, books, calendars and postcards. A major project since 2005 has been photographing Another Place, Antony Gormley’s installation of 100 Iron Men on Crosby Beach. He is inspired to portray the work of the artist in a way which captures the feel and spirit of the installation, and the atmosphere of the Sefton coastline.
Image by Ron Davies
We encourage you to use public transport or carpooling when getting to the events.
Open Eye Gallery is a short walk from the Liverpool ONE shopping centre and the Albert Dock.
By train. We are 20 minutes walk from Lime Street station. James Street station, served by Wirral Line trains, is a two minute walk. Moorfields station, served by the Northern and Wirral Lines, is a five minute walk. Visit Merseytravel for details of local train services.
By bus. The nearest bus and coach station is at Liverpool ONE, served by National Express coaches. Merseytravel has details of local bus services.
By ferry. The gallery is two minutes walk from the Pier Head Ferry Terminal, from which Mersey Ferries run regular services to the Wirral.
By bicycle. There are bicycle bays close to the gallery, opposite the entrance to the Museum of Liverpool, beside the Great Western Railway building.
If you wish to offset the carbon footprint of your travel, you can do it with Carbon Neutral Britain, Carbon Footprint, Forest Carbon, My Carbon Plan or any other project that you trust.
