I Dips Me Lid to Maureen - My Writing Workshop Muse!

[Shelley Hansen]

Hello All (and especially Maureen) ...

I've said in the past that I'm indebted to our writing workshop for inspiring me to create poems which, with expansion and embellishment, have gone on to become prize-winners.

Well, it's happened again - twice this month in fact. So I began to think of all the poems for which I've won written prizes or HCs or other successes, and which started out their life in the writing workshop. I was amazed at how many there are! In case you don't believe me, here's a list, from the most recent going back ...

Buy-Swap-Sell - 1st Prize - 2017 Australian Championship - Humorous
A Red Dirt Road to Nowhere - 1st Prize - 2017 West Wyalong Pals of the Pen - plus HC in 2017 Kembla Flame and HC in 2016 WA Championships
Rain in the City - Selected for 2017 International Anthology "Crafting Emotion"
Lost for Words - 1st Prize - 2017 Dunedoo Humorous Section
At the End of the Day - Top 10 - 2017 Rabindranath Tagore International Competition
Among my Souvenirs - HC - 2016 Looming Legends Tenterfield Oracles of the Bush
In Her Dreams - HC - 2016 Boyup Brook WA
Reflections on Visiting a Burmese Village (Kyrielle Sonnet) - Top 10 - 2016 Rabindranath Tagore International Competition
The Street Where I Grew Up - 1st Prize - 2015 Walkamin North Qld

I'm not posting these statistics to boast - but just to illustrate the amazing benefits of our writing workshop. Would I have written any of these poems if not for Maureen's prompts? I seriously doubt it.

So, Maureen - thank you SO much - and if you ever need proof that your prompting endeavours are worthwhile - this is it!!

Take a bow and keep it up, please!

And for those who don't participate - I heartily encourage you to do so.

Cheers
Shelley

[Maureen K Clifford]

WOW! I had no idea I'll send you a bill

Good on you Shelley - that is really terrific, and I am not taking any credit at all mate - you deserve the wins because you are a talented poet and if I sparked a bit of inspiration that's beaut.

Reminds me that the next set of prompts must be due as well - things are getting away on me these days

[Terry]

Hi Shelley & Maureen

I can add my name to the list of having had several successful poems over the years that started out as homework. Going back as far as when Zondrae used to direct homework on Bush Verse, and of course here on the ABPA Forum as well.
I have always felt it was a great way to get your mind working and thinking a of new ideas, a single prompt can at times spark a whole new idea, or rekindle an almost forgotten memory - I never seem to have the time these days for some reason.

Keep up the good work Maureen, Bush poetry needs dedicated people like you.

Cheers

Terry

[Shelley Hansen]

So true, Terry. I know some poets seem to be able to write effortlessly, but that’s not my experience. I always need a “prompt” to trigger me ... whether it is someone’s story, a news item, a historical account I’ve been reading, somewhere I’ve been ... or a set of Maureen’s homework prompts! The poems I listed in my earlier post would never have come to me on their own, that’s for sure.

Interestingly, I’m currently enrolled in a short (4 week) online creative writing course being run by The Writers Studio of Sydney. It is prose, not poetry, but the methods they use to stimulate the creative juices are very similar. Students are set a topic, accompanied by a series of prompts to incorporate into their assignment. Thanks to our Writing Workshop, I had no trouble fitting right in!

By the way Maureen, I’m nervous about that impending bill! Will I need Wallet Wizard, I wonder?

Cheers
Shelley

[Maureen K Clifford]

Nah! She'll be sweet Shelley, I'll shout this round