The Carer: Poetry of Private and Public Spaces
How can we reliably provide voices to care-givers and the cared-for?
‘Caring is a near universal experience and part of what makes us human. Yet too often the experience of caring is hidden away, behind closed doors, a private issue.’ – Heléna Herklots, Former chief executive of Carers UK
The narrative of caring is often considered a private matter between the carer and the person who is cared for. How can poetry shape the carer’s internal and external view of personal and public spaces? How do we explore the process of concealment and discovery for the carer? This workshop led by poet Denise Saul will focus on how poetry is constructed in care-giving relationships within public and private spaces. Participants will explore how the body is bound up in the topography of the poem.
The workshop will provide a space for the carer to express emotional and physical states of being in private spaces. Poems will emerge as an engagement with the body and how language is produced through the body. During the day, participants will have the opportunity to experiment with varied forms of poetic strategies. They will focus on the works of Philip Gross, Cheryl Moskowitz, Romalyn Ante and others.
How does the poet and carer acknowledge a personal responsibility to include a reliable voice of the person who is cared for? The workshop draws attention to the ethical dilemma of speaking for individuals who cannot speak for themselves. It will look at poetry created within care settings: Killick’s You Are Words and The Hard Word Box by Sarah Hesketh. Killick’s and Hesketh’s work draw attention to the ethical dilemma of speaking for individuals who cannot speak for themselves. The issue of ownership will be discussed in this workshop. Over the course of the day, participants will generate a sequence of poems.
