…or the glow of collaborative creativity?
Poets are generally thought of as those who work alone. They pace the floor whilst others sleep, seeking inspiration from the lonely shadows the moonlight casts across the floor. They lean into the wind walking across a windswept heath or stare moodily out at a troubled sea. They work alone.
The thing is, a poet is somebody who ‘makes’ things. The Greek verb from which the name is taken is ‘poeio’ – to make. To create poetry is to take the found materials at hand, hammer them out on the anvil of experience and watch the sparks fly as something new is fashioned. As such, there is every reason to suppose that poetry fashioned collaboratively may lead to louder banging, more sparks and a finished product worth the effort.
I teach, occasionally – both as a Pastor and a tutor. This week I have been helping to run a children’s holiday club. Alongside me has been a primary school teacher – a model of professionalism, warmth and imagination. When I saw an invitation on Twitter to contribute to a collaboratively crafted poem on teaching, I could not resist. I had, after all, been inspired.
@SparkyTeaching has started the Twitter collaborative poem ‘We are not just teachers’ next line anyone?
The finished product, edited by Nina Jackson, is below. For further examples of collaborative creativity, you can click for a map, a biography, a sermon ,a Christmas tale and a book on children and bereavement.
