It’s ‘Poetry in Ocean’ as marine charity’s poet-in-residence hopes to inspire new writers
The Ross-on-Wye, UK-based Marine Conservation Society (MCS) hopes its poet-in-residence will inspire some powerful poetry based around its latest campaign to save 30 threatened marine species.
It’s the first time the charity has had a poet-in-residence and Marketing Manager Debbie Stenner hopes it will help MCS’s message reach a new and wider audience: “It’s not all about finding words that rhyme with marine – but more about exploring how words can paint pictures of a habitat many of us will never see.”
Susan Richardson is the poet in question and she hopes to stimulate minds, inspire passion for marine wildlife and help attract a new breed of literary-minded wildlife-lovers to the charity. Susan has more than sixteen years’ experience of encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with the natural world in an imaginative and dynamic way.
Susan, who is based in south Wales, is a full time writer, performer and educator, and has received funding from an anonymous private donor for her collaboration with MCS on this eco-arts project.
MCS commissioned Susan to write poetry inspired by the charity’s current 30 Threatened Species appeal, which is raising money to help protect marine wildlife that either live in or visit UK waters, from the critically endangered sturgeon to the endangered loggerhead turtle.
Susan is holding a workshop themed around the appeal: “In a fun, stimulating and supportive environment, people will be guided through a series of writing exercises, inspired by such amazing creatures as the bottlenose dolphin and the Atlantic puffin, and will also receive valuable feedback on the poems they produce.”
The event takes place on Saturday 11th October, 2 – 5pm at Aylestone Court Hotel, Hereford. Places are £10, including refreshments. Places are limited, so book early. Book online at mcsuk.org/shop and click on ‘events’ or email susan@susanrichardsonwriter.co.uk for more information.
