Poetry School: When I was at my Most Beautiful with Katrina Naomi
In this one-day workshop, Katrina Naomi will offer a range of writing exercises based on both contemporary Japanese poetry and traditional Japanese forms. You will read and respond to poetry from the 8th to the 21st century, much of it written by women, looking at the work of Kobayashi Issa, Noriko Ibaragi and Hiromi Ito, amongst others. You will also experiment with collaborative ways of writing and try some basic translation work (no knowledge of Japanese is required). Come prepared to read widely, to be inspired and to write loads.
Katrina Naomi has recently returned from Japan, working on an Arts Council-funded project, ‘Basho & Beyond’. Her latest collection The Way the Crocodile Taught Me, was published by Seren (April 2016). Her pamphlet Hooligans, inspired by the Suffragettes, was published by Rack Press (2015). Katrina’s first full collection, The Girl with the Cactus Handshake was shortlisted for the London New Poetry Award and received an Arts Council writer’s award. She has a PhD in creative writing from Goldsmiths, her thesis focuses on violence in poetry. She teaches for Arvon and the Poetry School, and mentors for the Poetry Society.
