Speak Up! On writing, failing better, and taking up space

A blog about creative writing and everyday life

Speak Up! Kate Potts Speak Up! Kate Potts

Intimate Distance

Online learning platforms and technologies have made poetry workshops accessible for many of my students who have, for example, mobility issues, or mental health problems, or caring responsibilities for older relatives or young children. This is a hugely positive thing—but with some caveats.

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Speak Up! Kate Potts Speak Up! Kate Potts

Bread and Roses?

When I was growing up the idea of being a writer – and even more so a poet – was very much a fantasy. My dad, being practical, suggested journalism instead. ‘I can just imagine it,’ one of my university friends used to say. ‘You as a poet, living in garret, wearing a shawl and lots of hair grips.’

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Inspirations Kate Potts Inspirations Kate Potts

Serious Tinkering

Last month I taught a workshop on using rules, constraint and collision in poetry writingThese approaches, I think, are part of my toolkit for times when I want to (gently) rediscover playfulness and experimentation in my writing, without necessarily having a particular goal – or manuscript deadline – in mind.

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Speak Up! Kate Potts Speak Up! Kate Potts

Time to Write

Letting your own words speak on the page often seems like the least important thing in a long list of priorities. How can we find, or make, time to write—especially if we have demanding day jobs, or caring responsibilities, or both?

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