A retreat on which participants will read together the words of beloved spiritual poets, especially George Herbert, RS Thomas, Elizabeth Jennings and Mary Oliver. The guide will be Graham Fawcett, who has led a number of poetry retreats and courses.
This is an opportunity to hear the poems deeply, reflect on them, and, if and when participants wish to, share the insights they encourage. It is very much a reading together, and not an academic exercise, so nobody will be expected to analyse poems in a literary way. Instead, the focus will simply be on the ways poetry can speak to our deepest selves.
Graham Fawcett has led writing days, weekends, and longer courses in London and Southern England over the last thirty-five years. He was involved in the setting up, and later the day-to-day running, of the Arvon Foundation’s Devon centre – Totleigh Barton at Sheepwash near Hatherleigh - and has been involved in teaching and broadcasting ever since. He is known in the South West and elsewhere for his lecture-performances-with-readings at literary festivals (including in Taunton and Bridport) and in art galleries, pubs and bookshops.
