Poetry Residencies.
I've been honoured to work with the Corrymeela Community, Ikon (Belfast), the Solas Festival, the Uniting Church of Australia and the Greenbelt Festival on poetry residencies or as a regular performing poet.
I have worked with Australian Poetry on a month-long poetry mentorship course on "The Poetry of Ordinary Things". The next run of this is November 2014. Details here.
This has involved being present to programmes, activities and events, engaging with participants and working with them to bear witness to their experiences. Using poetry as a tool for training, discussion or encounter with each other has been a hallmark. Words matter and the elegance of the poetic word can be used to say a lot and indicate even more.
Many of the poems collected in 'Sorry for your Troubles' were written in this capacity with the Corrymeela Community.