You’ve worked on the Poetry in Motion project for quite a while with the schools. How long have you been doing that?
It has been a number of years now. Back in 2012, I participated in a poetry facilitation workshop for young people led by Poetry in Motion Project Co-Ordinator, Chelley McLear. Afterwards, Chelley asked me if I’d consider coming on board as a schools facilitator, which I did, and subsequently undertook further training. I think I started working in schools in the following academic year.
You have worked with school students. Have you also worked with community groups?
Not as much, although some years ago I was invited to deliver a haiku workshop at CAP headquarters for poetry facilitators, which was a first for me. I have also led live, online sessions for adults on short poetry forms (several in India!) and a series of online evening workshops for a regional college.
And year after year, you have submitted poetry to the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing?
Yes, it’s an annual challenge now! For many years our creative writing group members enjoyed poetry masterclasses delivered by Community Arts Partnership facilitators. Sometimes these took placer in a local cafe, or on occasion in a group member’s house, in the Warrenpoint/Rostrevor area. The aim of these workshops was to inspire poetry for submission to the anthology.
And within that process you could submit to the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing?
Yes. Once a poem has been selected for the next anthology, it is automatically considered for the award.
And did you follow the same process this year?
Yes, although the process was later this year. It usually takes place in the autumn, but the deadline this year was February, when I submitted three haibun.
How did you feel when you found out you were on the Long List?
It was amazing, as I really didn’t think a haibun would be selected. For some years now, I’ve been striving to have haiku, tanka prose and haibun published in broader anthologies and journals (one of my haibun submissions was selected for the Irish women’s anthology Washing Windows V from Arlen House, Dublin, earlier this year) Short form poetry is mostly limited to specialist publications and is sometimes ignored by contempoary journals, but I think the haibun form has been gaining increasing attention lately.
Did you attend the HomePlace event?
Yes, and it was as impressive as ever—a really great event. I got to meet several poets for the first time, including Clare McCotter. I already knew Clare’s short form poetry, so it was really nice to meet her and hear her read.
I also got to catch up with poets I’d bumped into at other events. It was good to hear the longlisted poems read aloud as I felt they were of a particularly high standard.
You have been quite successful in this competition over the years?
I had a longer poem long-listed in the inaugural Seamus Heaney Awards in 2013, was runner-up in 2023, and listed again this year, so not too bad!
What are your thoughts on the project?
The Poetry in Motion project brings many people together, from first-time writers to those who are more experienced, and sometimes very well established writers. When you start writing and submitting poetry, it is such a great feeling to have a poem accepted for an anthology. It encourages you to keep going and continue learning the craft. I’d like to think that this will always be the case—that you’re in the mix with people whose work you respect, as well as those who are just starting out. It is always encouraging to be included in an anthology containing quality work.
And what about the schools side of the project?
Recently, I was approached by an English teacher from one of the schools that I worked with during the Covid period. We had never met in person as, during that time, CAP facilitation was conducted online using workshops that poets had pre-recorded for the students.
I commented on how amazing I had found the work of those young people, particularly their haibun, as this is such a challenging poetry form. The teacher said that she believed their involvement in the project workshops, and going on to win the Seamus Heaney Award, had made such an impact on her students that several had taken up English Literature at A’ Level as a result. This was really great to hear.
I think this reflects how all aspects of the Poetry in Motion Project, both workshops for schools and communities and the Seamus Heaney Awards, are vitally important for encouraging young people and those in our communities to connect with and write poetry.
Marion Clarke
