In April Simon Fletcher and Cherry Doyle ran a workshop for us on Zoom. Offa’s Press has been encouraging people to write poems about rural life in the West Midlands through a series of virtual self-guided a workshops on the Offa's Press website and now there are plans for an 'In the Sticks' anthology, which will be edited by Simon and Cherry. So this was a chance to find out what kind of poems they will be looking for and to start writing some.
Cherry got us writing haiku, focusing on two complementary or contrasting ideas that capture a fleeting moment. And Simon encouraged us to start writing about our own experiences of being in the countryside, whether positive or negative.
All forms of poetry are welcome for the anthology, including haiku and haibun, although very long poems are less likely to be chosen because the editors want to include as wide a range of poets and poems as possible. The focus is on contemporary rural life in the West Midlands.
The submission deadline is 31st May and the full submission criteria can be found on the Offa’s Press website.
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