Creative Writing students on the courses Poetry: Other Voices, Other
Forms and Writing Poetry for Publication enjoyed two workshops with poet Jeremy
Over.
Jeremy ran a series of weird and wonderful writing exercises based on
listening to music and use of collage, before talking about his own work and
taking questions from the students.
Some comments and top tips offered by Jeremy for writing poetry: ‘Don’t
be afraid to veer off into strange territory’; ‘play with other voices besides
your own;’ ‘go with the strengths of your writing, but be prepared to
experiment with ways of writing you do not feel so comfortable with’; ‘have fun
with chipping away at the marble of your writing and seeing your poems take
shape as you redraft them’; ‘remember there’s more than one way of coming to a
poem’; and ‘play around and distract yourself so that different, unexpected
things can creep into your poems’.
When asked whether he preferred composing with a pen or on the
computer, Jeremy replied that he worked best when writing first with a pencil.
‘This feels less final and so allows for more open-mindedness to revision,
rather than being satisfied with a poem simply because it looks good when typed up.’
Jeremy Over has published two collections of poetry, both with
Carcanet: A Little Bit of Bread and No
Cheese (2001) and Deceiving Wild
Creatures (2009). A third collection is forthcoming in 2018.
The visits were organised by Dr Ian Seed.
