Can you or can't you?

In the last year or so there has been much debate as to whether it is truly possible to teach creative writing, with august figures from the literary world weighing in on both sides. Last Saturday  I was at an event on the Fringe Festival of the University of Gloucestershire which made it abundantly clear that talent can certainly be nurtured in a supportive environment; whether the poets participating would have "made it" without their MA courses is open to conjecture, but they attribute much of their success to the time spent developing and honing their skills at the university here.

Mantie Lister

I have written about the poetry of Angela France and Anna Saunders before in this blog but two new voices for me were those of Mantie Lister and Lesley Ingram. Lesley's debut collection is based on the art of Maggie Taylor and I was struck by her seemingly effortless command of the short poem - few lines but clever wording delivering a message so succinctly. Mantie, an English teacher from Exmouth, is currently Exeter's youngest ever town bard; I can well imagine her firing up her pupils with the infectious enthusiasm she displayed, especially for the spoken word. A most enjoyable afternoon, rounded off by a reading from Nigel McLoughlin, Professor of Creativity and Poetics,  justly proud of the alumni from his department.