I studied English Literature at university but wrote only one poem between graduation and retirement from full-time work. In 2019, just as I was beginning to reduce my part-time practice, I was delighted to hear that I could have a place in the newly formed Causeway u3a creative writing group. I was sure that I would focus on writing prose, perhaps short stories. But what happened was poetry. Some of the more experienced writers in the group encouraged me to join them in submitting to the Poetry in Motion Anthology, Vision. What I realised from that first submission was that entering the competition really helps the process of honing a piece of work, whether through discussions at the pre-submission workshops – always excellent – or with friends. I was completely taken aback when my first three pieces were included. That acceptance gave me a real boost and since then I have submitted regularly, with pieces longlisted in 2020/21 and 2021/22, receiving the Seamus Award for New Writing in 2022/23. I hope it doesn’t sound like false modesty, but I really was shocked to be the winner – as I think might have been evident on the day!
Since then, I have submitted to and been published in other anthologies and journals, but I am not as organised about looking for opportunities as I regularly tell myself I should be. I see myself as still very new to the discipline of poetry and what I enjoy most are opportunities for learning more about how to write, how to extend the range of what I write about, attending workshops and sharing and discussing new work with other writers. I am delighted to say that many of the writers in my first writing group are still meeting together regularly and I am so grateful for their candour and willingness to share.
One unlooked for outcome of winning the award was the chance it gave me to participate in the judging process, offering an incentive to think just that bit harder about the meaning and form of a poem. It also confirmed for me the very open and yet professional ethos I felt from the project from the start. I hadn’t intended to submit this year, but when the deadline coincided with some pieces I felt might be finished, I sent them in. I just couldn’t resist the urge to be part of the process again, knowing that I wouldn’t be a competitor other than for inclusion. I was surprised and delighted to have a poem singled out, especially since it was a celebration of Wolfgang Buttress’s wonderful exhibition, Bees: A Story of Survival.
Reading the latest anthology and listening to the readings at the launch event confirmed for me that the Poetry in Motion project is of huge value to aspiring poets, at any stage of their career. My experience is of a safe space for experiment, free of the pressure of orthodoxy, where poems and their writers can and will be taken on their own terms.
Sue Steging
