Stephen from Inspireland.ie took each TY class for a two-hour workshop on poetry and creative writing and to be honest before I went I wasn’t that excited as I thought it was just going to be boring but it was actually one of the best things we have done all year. He made me think about poetry in a completely different way that I never had before. It gave me a new view and respect for poetry in general as I have never really been a massive fan of it before but now have a changed opinion entirely. We covered how it can be easier or more difficult to write depending what it is and also we all wrote our own poems at the end of the workshop. Overall he was just a very funny and interesting guy to learn from.
The workshops were hilarious, powerful, and poignant and will live in the memory long after Stephen is gone from Clifden Community School. These workshops are every bit as much an exercise in wellness as they are in poetry. Issues such as homophobia, attitudes towards women, masculinity, vulnerability, sexuality and violence were explored. The room shifted from belly laughter to pin-dropped silence in a heartbeat. Definitely a great opportunity for our students and opportunity with which they engaged fully and wholeheartedly!
TY Student