Formed in October 2016 by Jill Munro and Susan Castillo Street, Sussex Sticks Poetry Reading Group is a small group made up of published poets who discuss not only their own work, but also any other poetry that speaks to them, from any country and any era. Their favourites include Pablo Neruda, Rosemary Tonks and Philip Larkin, but the possibilities are endless!
The group – also including Louisa Campbell, Sarah Miles, Siân Thomas and Lawrence Wilson – choose one poem per meeting to discuss, based on personal preferences and bringing books from their own personal libraries. Some of them are lifelong poetry lovers, while others are newer to poetry, but they often refer to other literature and forms of writing in their discussions, sharing their knowledge and ideas. They sometimes have a theme or will do an activity, for example recently, they blanked out the poet and had to decide if was written by a male or female writer.
The benefits of poetry
“Reading and writing poetry can offer a welcome break from the chaos of our busy lives, and discussing poetry has brought the group’s members closer together, sharing personal experiences that arise through the poems we read.”
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