Next Buzzwords Sunday July 12th
Upstairs at the Exmouth Arms, Bath Road, Cheltenham
7pm Workshop led by Jean Atkin
Open mic and readings 8pm
Guest poets Jean Atkin and Richard Skinner
£5 waged, £3 unwaged, pay on the door
Jean and Richard will be reading from their collaborative project 'Crossing Paths'
Keen walkers who live 200 miles apart, Richard and Jean had the idea of a book where walks became poems and were swopped rather than taken together. For 10 months they emailed new poems to and fro in a creative and exploratory spirit, until they had a manuscript. Black Cat Poetry Press promptly offered to publish, and have made a beautiful little book.
Jean Atkin grew up in Cumbria, lived for many years in Scotland, and is now settled in Shropshire. Her Laurel Prize nominated third collection ‘High Nowhere’ is published by IDP. She has published another eight poetry books and pamphlets, which often deal with place, nature and story. ‘Crossing Paths’, her collaboration with Richard Skinner, is published by Black Cat Poetry Press and grew out of a shared interest in poetry and walking. Since 2010 Jean has worked in both Scotland and England as a poet in education and community, often in collaboration with other artists.
Richard Skinner is a walker and a writer, often at the same time. He has climbed the Wainwrights in the Lakes, the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye and Mont Blanc. In 2016, he switched to long distance walking and, since then, he has completed more than 20 long distance walks in the UK, including the West Highland Way, the Pennine Way and the Coast to Coast. Richard has published eight books of poems. He is Director of the Fiction Programme at Faber Academy and runs poetry courses for the Arvon Foundation and Sarum College.
