January 2024 Meeting Minutes

23 January 2024

Hightown Writers’ Workshop

Venue: Peepo, High Street Bridgnorth

Writers at Peepo’s: Liz, Adam, Ann, Irena, Andy Kath and Jennie

We welcomed 2 new writers: Fiona Carstairs and Michele Ross

Everyone introduced themselves which set up the mood for a friendly and lively evening.

Jennie chaired the meeting and told the new members about the HTW blog which can be accessed at: hightownwriters.blogspot.com Members can send their work to Liz at: hightownwriters@gmail.com or ask Liz for details on how to post their work themselves. Liz works out a schedule so that new writing appears every few days.

Jennie told the new members about our anthology marking the 10^th birthday of HTW and that it’s almost ready for publishing. Liz said there may be a book launch at Booka, the Bridgnorth bookshop,

 

Jennie set writing task on ‘Education’ and all its connotations (10 minute exercise)

Liz wrote philosophically about her life-experience of education and concerns about AI
Andy felt he was self-taught rather than through formal education and discovered his love of nature, geology and astronomy.

Kath didn’t feel she learnt the right things at school but her best education has been through travelling, seeing wildlife and embracing other cultures

Irena felt school didn’t give her confidence and she didn’t have the courage till later to find a path of her own. She has learned so much through her connection with animals.

Ann told of an entertaining conversation in a perfect Cornish (Somerset?) accent, between a child and a farmer who pointed out to the child that learning was through doing, not through being in school.

Michele described education as being about, the lessons of life, self-care and learning who you are.

Fiona described a boy asking, ‘what do I need to know that for?’ The teacher told how you need rules for football and to be able to count, maths helps you solve problems e.g. with a mortgage, and that education can lift you out of poverty.

Adam has always loved books and gained his love of history, archaeology and astronomy from them.

Jennie wrote a poem which she hoped was relevant about how far we’ve come since children were sent to sweep chimneys, but for some young people modern life sill isn’t working.

 

Lineage was the set task for the month (not essential to do it, we can write on any subject)

Anne wrote of The Ancestor Cave. Manga is taken deep into a cave to talk to his ancestors. He’s asks the ancestors a question which he knows is silly but and wants to know why he is so small. They tell him it is because being small is very useful. There’s a lot of interesting detail in Ann’s story.

Fiona read her lovely poem ‘Over the Mountain Pass’. She gave literal descriptions of nature but metaphorically spoke of the hills of life. 

Adam wrote An Ancestral Odyssey, telling that his mother is descended from Romanies. He described their origin in India and told how a Romany once knocked at his mother’s door because the Romany sensed another Romany lived there.

Liz wrote The Robot Writes. She asked the question ‘Does it matter where we come from?’ Liz has connections with Nigeria and described how very important lineage is there and how people who do ancestry searches are keen to find a royal in their family. Liz fed questions into Chat GPT (AI) and it wrote an amazing sonnet for her. We were all concerned what it will mean for mankind.

Andy wrote of his lineage and the story of his ancestor John Corbett.

Kath wrote of her lineage and mentioned the 18 C bell in Alveley church engraved with the name of her great great, great (how many greats?) grandfather. Both Andy and Kath wrote detailed accounts and it will be good to read them on the blog.

Irena wrote a passionate and heart- warming story of her relationship with the Treasures in her life who are her step-children. She loved and cared for them as they grew up, not without some challenges and Irena is now rewarded because they have become beautiful people she is proud of. Lineage does not have to exist for children to be part of you.

Stuart and Jennie’s work on Lineage will be read at next month’s meeting.

 

Task for February: That Magical Moment!

Next main Meeting: at Peepo’s Tuesday 27 February 2024 7pm. Chair Ann.

There will be another mid-month meeting: at The Crown, Thursday 8 February 7pm. Chair Alex