Area 17

With Words promotes the love of words through literature, creative writing, and literacy events & workshops as well as creative team building events. Re events and workshops for families, children, and schools contact us through our With Words website: With Words.

Friday, February 05, 2010

National Literacy Trust case study: 1000 Verse Renga Project, and news of renga sessions (workshops) that are just too much fun for their own good!


The 1000 Verse Renga Project on Global Poetry System
photo©With Words
Click on above image to go to Southbank Centre Global Poetry System page
Alan Summers, of With Words
and June Wentland, Reader Development Officer of Bath Libraries (B&NES)


1) Read about the National Literacy Trust Renga Case Study
2) Spring Renga Competition results
3) Summer Renga Sessions
i) Renga party session for writers
ii) FREE renga session(s) for excluded groups
iii) Please read and email for further information (see info below)


National Literacy Trust: Reading Connects
Community involvement - case studies:
Renga river (pdf) - St Martin's Garden Primary School, Bath have been working with Bath Central Library on a global renga poetry project:
Click here for the pdf file

Look out for:
more exciting developments of the 1000 Verse Renga Project including the results of the competition for favourite local renga verses.

Our Summer Renga Sessions!
we are planning something rather special in May 2010!
1) A renga session for writers
If you wish to go on the list for the writers' renga session, or to ask for further information please email us at: rengaBath@withwords.org.uk

2) FREE RENGA SESSION(S) for Adult Learners Week
If you'd like to nominate an excluded group or adult learner group we would really love to hear from you, to enable sometimes our forgotten members of society to enjoy this immensely fun and learning group activity.

Email us at: adultlearners@withwords.org.uk


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The 1000 Verse Renga Project weblinks

BBC 1000 verse renga article:
http://tinyurl.com/rengaBBC


Phase Two at Bath Libraries:
http://tiny.cc/BathLibraries

Bath Chronicle renga page:
http://tiny.cc/BathChronicle79

Area 17 renga info: http://tiny.cc/1000VerseRenga

Facebook (if you have an account):
http://tiny.cc/Facebook1000

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Haiti Haiku Petition Appeal

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earthquake child

the water bottle larger
than his arm

Hi to all haiku readers and/or writers,
I've just signed a petition for the cancellation of Haiti's huge historic debt.
You can read more below, or sign the petition: Avaaz weblink

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Monday, January 18, 2010

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NEW!

Buy Haiku Journal Notebooks
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from the "Shop With Words"

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Watch out for new items on ebay in the near future from the
"Shop With Words"

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History of With Words Haiku Journal.
It all started when an earlier version called the Haiku Fieldbook was designed specifically for The Bristol Festival of Nature, in 2004, the U.K.'s largest celebration of natural history.

I was haiku poet-in-residence for this festival giving haiku writing walks in woodlands, and zoos etc... as well as workshops and haiku writing walks for schools.

The Haiku Fieldbook evolved into the Haiku Journal notebook which was officially launched at the Royal Festival Hall in London (part of Thames Festival and Japan-UK 150).
Click onto:
weblink

Haiku Journal workshops are offered nationally, and the very first happened here with fantastic organisation Creative Writing Bath: How to Keep a Haiku Journal. We hope to repeat this particular workshop later this year.
Click on:
weblink

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Friday, January 08, 2010

Phase One of the 1000 Verse Renga Project concluded

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Phew, what an incredible success the first stage of the 1000 Verse Renga has been!

The project received triple the number of renga verses we asked for!

We're collating all the verses ranging from libraries in at least two counties; txt from two cellphones; six different email addresses; and various other means.
Link
A 1000 Verse Renga aka Super Renga film is in the editing process, as well as a free renga ebook available to everyone.

A big thank you to everyone who got involved locally and globally!

What's next? Here's some clues from my partner in renga June Wentland, Reader Development Officer, B&NES/Bath Libraries:
weblink: the next renga project stage

Happy New Year!!!

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

The 1000 Verse Renga: a call to all poets and the public for even more verses

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The Renga Project
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now over 2000 verses
and extended to Christmas!


Roger McGough: "This is a lovely idea."



BBC Poetry Season:
"The free project, led by Japanese poetry expert Alan Summers, is the first attempt in Europe to produce a 1,000 verse Renga."
Alan Summers also took part in the BBC's Poetry Summer 2009 season.


An open invitation to poets and the public :
We'd love even more renga verses from all the residents of Bath, and all the poets and writers in Bath!

If you don't know what a renga verse is, we can send you an example that you can link your verse with, if you email us at: moreverses@withwords.org.uk

We urge you to help us create a super poem that is jointly written by the public and local, national and international poets.

We believe this super renga will stand as an extraordinary social document, as well as a riveting poem.


Competition
A competition is also being planned in the New Year for the best verses in various categories: local poets and writers; international poets and writers; the general public; and schools and children.

AN EXPLANATION ABOUT THE WHOLE THING!
This is a unique project drawing experienced writers, and international haiku and renga poets, and their verses together, with contributions from the general public.

I'm the
Japanese Embassy roving "Japan-UK 150" haiku & renga poet-in-residence currently in partnership with Bath Libraries.

A challenge started on National Poetry Day (U.K.) in October for the residents of Bath and North East Somerset to create the world's longest poem using the renga form of poety (see below).




This project became more than a poem, it allowed people from all walks of life to reveal aspects of their life, their worries, their fears, to create a unique time capsule for the residents of this area:

and with verse contributions from all over the world from people who care about people beyond their geographical, political and cultural boundaries:


Bath Chronicle: Councillor Terry Gazzard, Bath and North East Somerset Council's cabinet member for tourism, leisure and culture said:

"B&NES' libraries are a place where words can come alive and everyone has the opportunity to learn and develop new skills. Schemes like this poetry project bring the whole community together and reinforce Bath's reputation as a global centre for the arts."

Alan Summers, Bath Chronicle newspaper:

"Libraries are a place of words, and as someone who promotes the love of words, what better place could I choose to launch this incredible type of poem, where the public write the poem – not the poet."

I also want everyone to join in with this fully inclusive group poem!


Bath Central Library access incl. lifts, BSL, and computers:
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http://tiny.cc/LibraryAccess



photo©Alan Summers 2009
Click on above picture for a larger image.

NATIONAL POETRY DAY
We started our 1000 Verse Renga off with a bang with
National Poetry Day
and never looked back.

People were asked to leave a renga verse, and just have fun reading the other verses. We asked them to remember that the more instant a verse was, and "off the cuff " the more immediate and fresh it would appear.

The Council Connect
mobile phone is still active to txt a renga verse (we only need 2 or 3 very very short lines) to: 07797 806545

You can also email a verse: 1000verses@withwords.org.uk



The Wiltshire Times article

Please txt a renga verse (2 or 3 very short lines) to: 07797 806545
Or email: 1000verses@withwords.org.uk


photographs by Alan Summers
National Poetry Day, Thursday 8th October 2009, and local poet Paul Amphlett provided us with the very first verse, seen here with Bath Libraries Reader Development Officer June Wentland on National Poetry Day.


photo by Alan Summers
Which is followed promptly by Stock and Online Resources Librarian Mary Henderson.


photo by Alan Summers
Nikki Bennett, respected local poet; Bath Stanza Rep for The Poetry Society; and organiser of the Uni-verse International Poetry Group also adds a verse!


photo by Alan Summers
A B&NES library user and one of our many renga verse contributors.


photo by Karen Hoy
Growing number of renga sheets and complementary individual verse cards (handcopied by June Wentland, Reader Development Officer for Bath Libraries) that are on bookshelves throughout the library.


photo by Karen Hoy

The mission
is to help create the World’s longest ever poem with the help of visitors to Bath Central Library.

What is the world's longest poem? It's a renga poem, and just like haiku it came from Japan.

It's where people from all walks of life don't even have to be a poet to help create a poem. Where they jointly create a poem made up of verses from the general public and respected writers and haiku poets from around the world.

How does that work?


RENGA

Renga is a traditional Japanese group poem that is ‘shared writing’: everyone is allowed the chance to write, or orally suggest a verse.
It’s very inclusive, creative, and encouraging, and the making of this communal poem is as important as the final result.

WHO ARE JAPAN-UK 150?

Japan-UK 150 was set up by the Embassy of Japan for a range of activities across the U.K. to celebrate 150 years of the 1858 Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce in Edo (Tokyo).

MORE ABOUT RENGA
Of all the ‘poetic forms’ this is one that works for people who have never written before, and yet offers a great challenge for those who are already comfortable and established writers.


When completed the renga poem is jointly owned by everyone.


The renga verses are more than the sum of its parts because they capture our thoughts and feelings, which might otherwise be lost at the end of the day.


As a Japan Times award-winning writer for haiku and renga poetry (haiku originated from renga as its ‘starting verse’) I felt renga was an ideal choice of activity for a Japan-UK 150 event.


Anyone interested in learning more and participating in renga should consider joining the friendly folks at The Renku Group: http://renkugroup.proboards.com

THE AIM

The aim is that towards the end of the residency we can display a renga poem in the library; to present a sense of achievement to the local community; and to develop a further interest in Japanese culture.

I will also call upon national and international haiku/renga poets to help us achieve and complete the 1000 verse renga.

This is so that the local community are involved with a renga that has been around the world from Africa (including teachers and schoolchildren from Nairobi); Japan; India; Nepal; Pakistan; North America; Canada; Ireland; and West Indies, just to mention a few of the countries where I know people who regularly write haiku and renga.


Come on down to Bath Central Library:
Ask a librarian where the big Renga Posters are, find a space for a verse and write one down!

We aim to get 1000 verses, and even more if possible, and we want you to add a verse to make that happen.


What would you write about?

Ideally we're looking for two or three VERY SHORT lines that read like they have come from the middle of a snatch of conversation with a friend.

You could put down what's important to you right now!

It could be anything, it could even be about naming a newborn child, or something about your partner, or why you love Bath or your own part of the world, or just something that makes you laugh out loud despite our troubled times, and current recession.


Alan Summers is the founder of 'With Words' which promotes the love of words through events and workshops.
National Poetry Day's theme for this year is "Heroes and Heroines".

The 1000 Verse Renga project has been wonderfully supported by June Brassington, BathNES Head of Libraries; June Wentland, new Libraries Reader Development Officer; Ann Cullis, Senior Arts Development Officer and Peter Salt, Arts Development Officer of Bath & North East Somerset Council and all the librarians both at Bath Central Library, and all the other libraries in the county where renga branches are happening.


"This project is ground breaking as the aim is to write a 'senku' renga (a renga of 1,000 verses), something that we think has never been completed before in Europe!
We are again breaking new ground by having branches off the 'main line'.

We want as many Bath residents to take part as possible.
There will be a display in Bath Central Library for people to contribute and renga branches will be taken to our branch libraries to contribute.

Contacts across the world will also be contributing some renga branches started off in Bath...linking Bath (as the central focus) to places across the globe."

June Wentland, Reader Development Officer, Bath Libraries U.K.
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Monday, November 16, 2009

1000 plus verses up on single verse cards too!

Photos taken from last Friday where we had a photo-shoot of this amazing project.


photo by Kathy Hogan (With Words)
June Wentland, Reader Development Officer, Bath Libraries; Alan Summers, haiku & renga poet-in-residence, Bath Libraries; and Lynne Hamer, Children's Librarian for Bath & North East Somerset Council Libraries.


Both photos by Kathy Hogan (With Words)
June Wentland, Reader Development Officer, putting up individual renga verse cards hand-copied from email and txt renga verses.

Don't forget to click onto images and make them bigger!



photo by Kathy Hogan (With Words)
The 1000 Verse Renga was going to be just for a month, but popular demand has made this project extend into Christmas with a final display planned for the New Year.

photo by Kathy Hogan (With Words)
We have actually gone past the 1000 verse target, but people love this project so much we just had to keep going, and we are already past 2000 verses, but very happy to receive even more!

Renga verse email: moreverses@withwords.org.uk


photo by Alan Summers(With Words)
Please do ask what a renga verse is, or what renga verse you could link to, but bear in mind that verses are constantly coming in via email and mobile txt on two different numbers, plus twitter and facebook and other ways too! ;-)

Don't forget to click onto images and make them bigger!

re Competition
We're also planning a competition for the best renga verses with possible categories such as: Best Children's Verse; Best Local Adult Verse; and Best U.K. Verse; and Best International Verse. Keep checking in for when we announce this part of the 1000 Verse Renga.

So many best bits about this project, and so gratifying when someone of the stature of Roger McGough tells you it's a lovely idea!

For those of you interested in sending us a renga verse to add to the big renga project, you can either take the plunge and send them straight to: moreverses@withwords.org.uk


Alan taking a photo of Kathy of With Words taking a photo of June Wentland putting up something like the 950th verse card, all copied by hand by June throughout the library.

Or ask us for a verse to link to, bearing in mind that verses come in thick and fast from means of communication via electronic means, as well as people walking into all the branch libraries throughout the county! ;-)


photo by Kathy Hogan (With Words)
Please scroll down to catch earlier posts about this remarkable project and how it started.


photo by Alan Summers (With Words)

photo by Alan Summers (With Words)
The Children's Department also has a wonderful window with verse cards too!

Don't forget to click onto images and make them bigger!


photo by Kathy Hogan (With Words)

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

A taste of some of the fine international renga for the project


photo by Alan Summers at Bath Central Library
Please click onto the image for a larger picture and enjoy!

Thanks Renku Group!

Weblink:
http://renkugroup.proboards.com/index.cgi


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