Members of Newminster’s ‘Writer’s Club’ took part in a fabulous Masterclass Poetry Workshop on Monday 6th March. The writing session took place in the Northern Poetry Library, at The Chantry in Morpeth. Our budding writers worked with the poet, John Challis, who provided a themed writing morning, based on the concept of ‘Place.’

Mr Challis began with examples of work by Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin and Katrina Porteous and led the pupils through a series of fascinating writing challenges; including ‘a braided poem.’ Students were encouraged to explore different writing techniques and consider poetry as a ‘way of talking to a past time and recreating things we have lost.’ The morning concluded with pupils selecting a book from the poetry collection, picking out words or lines which appealed to them and creating a poetry ‘collage.’

Grateful thanks to the staff of the ‘Northern Poetry Library’ and John Challis for providing a wonderfully creative experience for our students.