Nalini explained to some of us and reminded others of the
various structures and many forms available in poetry, the sound of the words
and even the layout of the words on paper.
The first ‘warming up’ exercise was to listen to a very few
lines and imagine the scene and the mood created.
Similar written exercises developed with some of us starting
to ‘create’.
The final exercise was to write our feelings on the scene
created in our imagination by listening to piece of oriental music.
Nalini emphasised the importance of jotting down key words of ideas as soon as they emerge. Don't let them escape.
Inevitably time was always pressing, and some of us might have been more
comfortable developing our ideas in the quite atmosphere of home.
It was a good thought provoking workshop which will hopefully
be reflected in our Poetry for the Betty Munnoch Award on the subject of
MEMORY.
More details of Nalini’s work can be found at www.nalinipaul.com
19 September 2017.