Home Poems by Antony Johae – book launch 10th December

Mosaic member Antony Johae invites you to the launch of his new book, Home Poems (published by Orphean Press), Saturday 10th December 7.15pm for 7.30pm at the Friends’ Meeting House in Colchester.

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Next meeting – responding to art

Gust of Wind by Denis Wirth Miller; Copyright – the estate of Denis Wirth Miller

For our next meeting at Firstsite 16^th November, the galleries will be open late as part of a series of Late-Night Firstsite events. For details see – https://firstsite.uk/event/late-night-firstsite-with-christmas-in-colchester/. We will take advantage of this opportunity to respond to some work in the gallery.

Please come to Firstsite before our meeting begins (by 7pm latest if possible). Then choose a painting in the Landscapes and Beasts exhibition and start to make a few notes and take a photo of your chosen painting  –

1. Make a note of the painting’s title and the artist (either Denis Wirth-Miller or Francis Bacon)
2. Take a photo of the painting with your phone/device
3. When looking at the painting, make some notes on –
   1. What is the painting depicting, what does it look like?
   2. Imagine you’re in the scene depicted by the painting – what’s happening, what can you see, smell, hear, taste, touch? How do you feel?
   3. What does the painting remind you of/are there any memories that come to mind when you look at the painting?

We will continue with developing these notes in the meeting itself which begins at 7.30pm – the meeting room is booked for 7.30pm – 9pm.

If you’re not able to arrive early at Firstsite then please just select a painting from the Landscapes and Beasts exhibition and take a photo of it. Or you could use one from the Firstsite website/the one above.

We will also look at one or two examples of ekphrastic poems (written in response to artworks) during the meeting.

About Colchester Mosaic Stanza Poetry Group..

May’s Mosaic

We’re looking forward to resuming our meetings at Firstsite, starting 18^th May, 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. We’re in the process of putting together an exciting and stimulating programme for the coming months, alternating between readings/workshops and critiquing sessions.

May’s session will consist of two parts –

• a reading and Q&A from local poet Eleanor Page, including poems from her debut pamphlet Sleeping on the Wing, published by Against the Grain. “Sleeping on the Wing is fresh, deft, and alive with surprise. Eleanor Page’s precision of language and intense vision create poems that utterly grip the reader. She is that rare bird: a writer who makes you see the world for the first time.” – David Morley
• this will be followed by a workshop led by Sheena on prompts for writing about the natural world

We hope to see lots of you there.

Back at Firstsite from May 2022

Losing things

At our meeting Wednesday 19th May (7pm using Zoom) Valerie Quinlivan is running a workshop on the theme of losing things. This is about the loss of concrete objects rather than the abstract or metaphorical – although your poems may eventually take that route. We’ll be using things we have lost in the past – from childhood teddies to diamond rings – as inspiration and looking at some sample poems.

Next Mosaic meeting – reading and workshop on the theme of place

At our next Mosaic Zoom meeting, 7pm 18^th November, Sue Wallace-Shaddad, Secretary of Suffolk Poetry Society, will read from her new poetry collection. This will be followed by a short workshop run by Sheena. Please find the details below. We hope that you can join us for this meeting on the theme of ‘place’ which should be both interesting and inspiring.

Reading and Q&A from Sue Wallace-Shaddad

From Sue – “I would be delighted if you could come to my Zoom reading, followed by Q & A, at 7pm on 18th November, to mark the publication of my short poetry collection ‘A City Waking Up’. This collection of thirty poems is about the people, language and customs of Sudan. I have been visiting Sudan for over 40 years and am married to a Sudanese academic. My book is available from Dempsey and Windle, and you can hear me read three of the poems on my wordpress site. I look forward to sharing my experiences of Sudan with you!”

Workshop on place by Sheena Clover

This short workshop led by Sheena will explore place as a subject for your writing. You will be asked to consider a place to which you have an emotional attachment but which is not your current home. Please spend a little time choosing a few objects and photographs associated with this place which you can refer to during the workshop. The intention is to give you the stimulus to create notes and drafts which can be used for your future writing.

Mosaic update – virtual meetings

For the time-being we have been meeting virtually and will continue to do so. We meet using Zoom at 7pm on the third Wednesday of every month. Our next meeting is 21st October where we will be sharing and giving feedback on our poems on the theme of ‘vision’.

Next meeting – Wednesday 20th November

Mosaic’s next meeting is this Wednesday 20th November and will be a critiquing session. If you have a poem for feedback please bring copies. We meet 7pm in the Firstsite cafe and move to a meeting room 7.30pm.

Vlog – Curating ‘Beyond Plastic’ Art Exhibition

The ‘Beyond Plastic’ exhibition – featuring poems by Mosaic – has now finished but for anyone who didn’t make it there or to revisit, check out Michele Webber’s vlog.