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Northern Voices and Identity – Spotland Library

Photo of a microphone

Yesterday we had the privilege of attending a truly memorable poetry event at Spotland Library.

In spite of a clash with some blokes kicking a ball at the Spotland stadium which caused traffic and parking issues there was a full house of audience and performers (two of the poets were held up in the jams but last minute changes to the running order meant everything ran smoothly).

After introductions and an opening poem from Rochdale Laureate Sammy Weaver the first guest poet to read was Rochdale Young Poet in Residence – Alende Amisi. Originally from Congo, Alende is an incredibly busy man with lecturing, studying for his PHD and writing being just a part of his work. His poetry, informed by his own experiences was thoughtful and powerful. Alende’s delivery was calm, almost belying the strength of his word and those words were very well received by the audience.

Sid Calderbank, an award winning Lancashire dialect specialist and a Rochdale favourite entertained with a rendition of “Bobby Grundy, a village shop” written by Benjamin Woods. How Sid remembers the words to these old dialect poems is something of a mystery – but the reactions of those listening to his hilarious renditions are not, the room was full of laughter and I’m sure a few new (old) words were learned.

Yasmin Hussain is a relative newcomer to poetry and part of the Riverside Writer group and also attends the Heywood Scribblers monthly sessions. Those in the room at Spotland would be forgiven for believing that Yasmin has been doing this for ages as she took the microphone and delivered two poems with great delivery and composure. Her poem “Woman” really struck a chord with not only the women in the library but also the men, some of whom might have found her themes enlightening. A great performance from a local woman who continues to grow in skill and confidence.

Yasmin was followed by another award winning poet, Hafsa Aneela Bashir, from Oldham. Hafsa is a mother, an aunty and a grandmother and her poetry delivers her messages and emotion straight to the heart. Her performance in Spotland was no exception. “Cummin Seeds” about a childhood visits to the cash and carry really captured the essence and atmosphere of those places, whilst “Tap on the roof”, also from her collection “The Celox and the Clot” is a really powerful and heartbreaking poem about the terrible things happening to Palestinians over so many years.

Mike Garry is without doubt one of the leading poets of the North. He has an hoary doctorate and has brought his poetry to university students, teachers, schools, prisons and so many stages in so many rooms. He has toured with John Cooper Clark and worked with many musical talents from New Order to Philip Glass. His poems are delivered in a high speed, energetic and absolutely authentic voice as he moves around the room and even breaks into song on occasion. For me his poem about the primary school teacher who told him it was OK to dream and the eulogy for his mother were incredibly moving and there were tears in eyes around the room. Safe to say that Mike gained some new fans in Spotland yesterday and there can be no doubting the appetite for live poetry in the borough.

This event was one of a series being hosted in libraries by Sammy Weaver and the remaining events will be at Darnhill on 14th February, Middleton on 5ht March and a final event and anthology launch at Rochdale Central Library on 21st March.

These events are all free of charge – tickets are available online at Rochdale Creates

Poetry at Wardle Library
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Poetry at Wardle Library

Saturday 24th January, 2:30pm to 4:00pm

I’m very pleased to be part of this special event at Wardle Library tomorrow as one of the guest poets and that one of my poems will be featured in the exhibition.

Pennine and Nature Poetry Event with Poet Laureate Sammy Weaver and guests

Join us at Wardle Library for an afternoon of poetry and spoken word inspired by the Pennines and the stunning nature that surrounds our local area. From the Pennines to the page (and microphone!) 

This nature-inspired event will see words bloom, with Rochdale’s very own Poet Laureate Sammy Weaver as our host. Think local voices, big energy, and stories that fire up your imagination. 

Confirmed performers include: 

  • Clare Shaw, award-winning poet.Clare Shaw was born in Burnley and lives near Hebden Bridge. Their fourth Bloodaxe poetry collection – “Towards a General Theory of Love” – won a Northern Writer’s Award, and was a Poetry Society Book of the Year. Their fifth collection – “I Know What I Saw” – will be published next year.Instagram: @clareshaw1Threads: @clareshaw1Twitter/X: @ShareClawBlueSky: @clareshawpoet.bsky.social Linktree: https://linktr.ee/clareshawpoet 
  • Zaffar KunialBorn in Birmingham to a Kashmiri father and an English mother, Zaffar has been a poet in residence for the Wordsworth Trust and the Bronte Parsonage.  Kunial’s poetry is known for exploring themes of language, family, heritage, nature and time. 
  • Liz White
  • Seamus Kelly

The Rochdale in Rhyme – Greater Manchester Town of Culture poetry exhibition will also be on display, giving you time to explore and enjoy work by more local writers. 

This event is delivered in partnership between Rochdale Libraries, Rochdale Borough Council, and Rochdale Development Agency, funded by Arts Council England and Flexible Funds, and forms part of Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture programme for 2025/26. 

Together, we’re creating space for new voices to be heard. Free to attend and open to everyone. Come along and get inspired! 

The event will take place from 2.30pm to 4pm.

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Changing Landscapes Anthology

Photo of Seamus reading from the Changing Lanscapes book.

Ahead of the official Launch of our Changing Landscapes anthology on 28th November I am pleased to have received two boxes of books.

I thoroughly enjoyed the process of collating the contributions, editing and designing the layout and creating the cover design. It has been a privilege to work with these writers.

The poems in this anthology are created by local writers who came together through a series of workshops. Some are very experienced poets whilst others are just setting out on their poetic odysseys. The poets supported and inspired each other and the result is a collection that explores a range of styles and approaches.

We have included several “concrete poems”, where the words and visual shape combine to enhance to the subject. We also include a dialect poem along with an illustration created by the poet..

Some poems speak directly to the “Changing Landscapes” theme, whilst others are less direct. Some poets considered the changes observed  through the seasons, as the light changes throughout a single day, or during a brief journey.

Photo of five copies of Changing Landscapes book

We hope that the variety of approach adopted by the poets helps to reflect the varied nature of the changing landscapes around our homes on the edge of the Pennines.

The quality of the poetry from the contributors is really good and the range of responses to our local landscapes has been really inspirational.

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Truncated – in the Dark Poets Club

Recently I sent some poetry off to a competition run by Dark Poets Club and was really pleased to hear back that my poem “Truncated” had received an honourable mention and has since been published on the Dark Poets Club website.

Screenshot of Dark Poets Club webpage featuring my poem “Truncated”

Quite often my writing is a response to some of the appalling behaviour of those with most power in the world and Truncated is one such poem. In just a few lines it reminds us of the hard that can follow from a decision taken among the noise and hot-heady atmosphere of even supposedly modern and democratic governments:

Truncated

The first bombs were launched
through the “Aye” lobby
And unaware
the soon to be victims,
continued their brief
truncated lives
for a little while

Greeted by soul-less
self-serving cheers
from both sides of The House
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Painting outside – Calderdale Plein Air

Yesterday, for the second year, the wonderful Craft and Canvas shop in Hebden Bridge have organised their plein air art competition. With over 40 entries and variable weather it would have been impossible to predict what the final artwork would look like. But in a matter of a few hours there was a stunning display of art on show at North Light Studios, all created out and about in Hebden and its surroundings.

Having spent a few hours down beside the river I must say that this was a very friendly event, as well as the supportive organisers and fellow participants, lots of people out in town, some local, some from overseas, some with children, many with dogs (there was a dog show in the park), and many with food for the ducks came to watch for a while and often to chat. Any trepidation about painting in public was soon gone and that is a credit to the place and its people.

Photo of my finished watercolour showing the river and trees in Hebden Bridge

Here are some pictures of where I was working and my finished watercolour painting. I’m also including pictures of some of the other artworks produced.

A preparatory sketch for the general tones before painting
My painting partly completed on my easel
Photo of my easel and stool set up for painting
The winning artwork on show alongside my own painting
More artwork produced on the day
More art produced on the day
The third placed paining showing the hills above Hebden
Some more of the artworks from the day on display at Northlight Studio
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Changing Landscapes – Poetry Workshops

Harehill House, Littleborough

Fridays 10am to 12noon – 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th Sept, 3rd Oct

In September I will be leading a series of poetry workshops where we will look at the landscapes around Littleborough and the surrounding hills and moors. There will be plenty of inspiration, discussion and poetic hints and tips to enable participants to write some poetry to be proud of.

A flyer advertising the Changing Landscapes workshops

An anthology of poems created from these sessions will be published and distributed in a large print format making it accessible for people who might not be able to access poetry in the typical smaller print sizes. A launch event for the book will be announced once a date can be finalised and all contributing poets will have the chance to read some of their work at the launch.

Bookings are currently open. There is a charge of £25, payable at the first session, which covers the 5 workshops and a copy of the anthology. Places are limited and can be booked by emailing Liz White at: lizwhitecreative@gmail.com

One of the sessions, 12th September (weather permitting), will consist of a field trip to explore and discuss the local landscapes.

This project is supported with funding from Grantscape and organised by Liz White for Create and Connect.

A little bit more nature
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A little bit more nature

Sometimes nature can be the inspiration for making new images and sometimes it can inspire new creative writing. Recently I was thinking back to a time about 50 years ago when I was walking the last part of the journey to school and was distracted by a Merlin flying just a few yards away and parallel to the path. I’d never seen one before and it was genuinely stunning. A small bird of prey it was struggling in the face of a very strong wind so I was able to watch it closely for a while. I was a bit late for school but it is a memory I still treasure and I’ve never since seen a Merlin. That inspired the little poem below, and after that I couldn’t resist adding it with drawing into my nature journal.

Nature journal page by Seamus with poem and drawing of a Merlin made with coloured pencils and fountain pen.

Sometimes the idea comes from the image and then the words come along afterwards as was the case with this watercolour sketch and poem about a grey seal.

Nature journal page by Seamus with poem and watercolour of a grey seal

Not everything in the journal includes poetry and the spread below has a few little nuggets of folklore and myth along with 25 additional names for Digitalis, the plant we now call Foxglove. There watercolours were painted from one of the beautiful foxgloves that have been thriving in our garden in the last month.

Photo of a spread from my nature journal with pictures and text about foxgloves.

Poetry day at Hare Hill House, Littleborough
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Poetry day at Hare Hill House, Littleborough

Saturday 28th June 2025

We still have a few places left on our poetry workshops at Hare Hill House on Saturday 28th June.

Photo of the Bandstand at Hare Hill Park, Littleborough

There are two workshops to choose from both running from 10am to 12noon.

Becky May will be running a Contemporary Poetry session while I will running a Nature poetry session. The workshops cost just £5 per person and you can book by emailing Liz white – lizwhitecreative@gmail.com or myself – seamus@onepoetsvision.co.uk

After the workshops there will be poetry performances and then in the afternoon Yorkshire poet and author Gaia Holmes will be discussing her work, including her recently published collection of short stories “He used to do dangerous things”. The afternoon session is free of charge and all are welcome.

This promises to be an enjoyable and productive day of poetry in the historic Hare Hill House in Littleborough.

poetryworkshops #naturepoetry #naturewriting #contemporarypoetry #poetry #poetryperformance #authortalk @gaiaholmes73 @rochdale.creates @cartwheel_arts @rochdalelibrary @rochdalecouncil

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Love Nature, Love Words, Love Pictures

If you are a nature lover you probably already know how being outside among plants, trees and all kinds of wildlife, can help lift your mood and make you feel good. But did you know that recording your experiences, observations and thoughts can multiply those benefits?

Photo of the participants and facilitators for the nature journalling session, stood by woodland with a Culture Coop Random Acts of Art poster

Last weekend my wife, Maggie, and I ran nature journaling session at the Hollingworth Lake Country Park. We all had a great time with a nature work, tips for finding subjects to write about and a range of ways to make illustrations. The participants were shown how you can make a journal using various kinds of paper and they also learned some watercolour techniques to create a nice, and quick, illustration of bluebells.

One of our participants even climbed a tree while the other had a sit down in a den made of branches at the bottom of the tree.

Photo from the nature journalling session, showing participants during the activities
Photo from the nature journalling session, showing participants during the activities

We were really impressed by the enthusiasm, skills and knowledge of those people who came along and really happy to send them home with their own jounaling journey underway.

We were also delighted with the feedback, some of which is shown below:

“Want to do more”
“Lovely, awesome”
“Thanks very much for this afternoon. I really enjoyed it, much better than I thought I would. It has certainly inspired me and given me confidence to learn more and develop new skills.”
“Would be great if there was a journalling group”
“Loved seeing lots of different ways of making images”
“It was great to spend time on what’s meaningful”

Photo from the nature journalling session, showing participants during the activities
Photo from the nature journalling session, showing participants during the activities
Photo from the nature journalling session, showing participants during the activities

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A Poem for Wardle

Exhibition Launch, Wardle Library, Sat 22nd March 2025

A photo of a notebook with two fountain pens

It was lovely to be asked to run a creative workshop to write a collaborative poem for a Community Threads Project and exhibition in Wardle.

The poetry workshop on Tuesday evening was really productive with enthusiasm and lots of great input from participants, who ranged from those who haven’t written poetry to experienced and award winning writers. All made great contributions that will be reflected in the final work.

The project has involved making a range of artwork inspired by the village, including, painting, textiles, photography and model making. The exhibition opens from 11am to 1pm, on Saturday 22nd March, with free badge making and refreshments. The Mayor will be opening the exhibition and I will be privileged to read the poem, titled “Our Wardle” at the opening event.

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Vibe – an amazing project closes

Vibe logo painted on a white wall with drawings of the staff team

The Vibe charity and project in Rochdale has sadly come to the end of its time. Writing this post feels akin to writing an obituary. Issues around availability of premises, securing continued funding and the age of founding members, mean that it is time to close at the end of this year. Vibe has truly been an incredible success and has benefitted many young people in terms of wellbeing, resilience and skills.

Vibe has been part of my life since 2015 when I first became involved as a freelance writer in the Stories We Can Tell project. Our work at Vibe has always been led by the young people who are supported to use creativity but never pressured. People do well in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere, and at Vibe they can be themselves while joining in with all kinds of creative activity.

At Vibe I’ve been able to work with young people writing anything from novella length stories to poetry and lyrics, and help with art, photography, woodwork and even guitar building. Vibe also gave me the opportunity to work alongside creative practitioners from other fields, like music, photography, craft, art and film-making, sharing ideas and skills. The team at Vibe always support each other and we consider ourselves as friends, not just colleagues.

Although it is sad to be saying goodbye to this amazing project this will not really be the end as the skills we’ve all been developing will no doubt be used with others in the future and friendships will endure.

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Poetry Café – Bonfire Night

Coffee on the Corner, Littleborough 6.00pm to 8.00pm

An image made up of lots of words related to Poetry

On Tuesday, 5th November, we will hold our 3rd edition of the Poetry Café in Littleborough. This is a free, open-mic style poetry evening held in a lovely café. We welcome all genres of poetry and there might even be a short story.

All a welcome to attend either just to listen or to read some of your own, or some favourite poetry. Should you wish to read please let me, Seamus, know on arrival and I’ll add you to our list of performers for the evening. Generally, dependent on numbers each person will have the opportunity to read twice in the evening. Being bonfire night we can expect some sparklers and maybe some bangers but the organisers will not accept any work that is racist or attacks minority groups in any way.

The café are opening outside of their normal hours for our event so please buy some drinks, and maybe some of the excellent home-made cakes, to help support the owners who very generously provide the space.

Coffee on the Corner is just a short walk from Littleborough railway station and bus stops and there is parking on the nearby streets is free and after 6.00pm there is not a time limit in force.