Creative writing
The group meet on the third Thursday of each month from 10.00am-11.30 in member's homes.
Each month members are invited to write about a chosen topic. Pieces can be fiction or non-fiction of about 500 words or poetry with a suggested limit of 40 lines.
Here is an extract from Joan's piece on Christmas:
"We have many Christmas traditions in the UK. Wreaths are used as both decorations on people’s doors and to signal the start of Advent and the arrival of Jesus Christ. In this article I explore the origins of wreaths using the following quote from Rudyard Kipling:
“I keep six honest serving-men, (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who”
Starting with the first three serving men (what and why and when), I first of all looked at the word wreath itself. It is derived from a Middle English word (“wrethe”). Traditionally a wreath is a twisted circle or ring of leaves and/or flowers. They have been used as a symbol of eternity or eternal life dating back to at least the Romans who exchanged holly wreaths as gifts. In addition, the Druids saw holly as sacred and Shakespeare wrote about holly in the 16th century. By the 17th century holly had become a part of the Christmas celebrations."
You can download the rest of it by using the first link on the right.
You can see some of Joan's writing for her family history on her website - see link on the right.
Further information about the group from: Val Valentine - see newsletter for details.