From the tap end of the bath

South Downs NWP Group Convener and NWP Website Editor Theresa Gooda shares what she has learned from visiting other NWP groups.

In these pandemic times I have managed to travel the country through writing, ‘attending’ meetings in East Anglia, London and Sussex in recent weeks. I have been guilty of repeatedly gatecrashing other groups - remotely of course.

Today marks Day 50 of Lockdown 3 in my part of the world, and writing has been my solace through this most brutal of years. Because I run a group myself, one that has continued to meet via Zoom since March last year, I find that during our meeting time I am not able to truly relax and write. It might be because I’m wondering how everyone else in the group is getting on, reflecting on how I’ve introduced a poem or prompt, checking on what comes next.

So it has been a wonderful privilege to join in with other groups, where I have found my fellow writers so welcoming. And it simply wouldn’t be possible in ‘ordinary’ times.

It has been fascinating to see how each group has its own identity and operates slightly differently. Some share words and drafts and thoughts frequently throughout their session; some save the sharing to the end. Some are asked to think about a theme in advance or bring something along to a Zoom meeting. Some go away from the screen to write, returning to the Zoom call after a certain amount of time. Some keep their cameras on all the way through. Some write one week and share the next. Some collate their drafted writing; others keep their finished work private. Some meet weekly, some monthly, some half-termly.

I’m also struck though, by some of the similarities between them:

Firstly, the warmth, humour and laughter. Is that writers? Teachers? Writing teachers? NWP writing teachers? It permeates everywhere.

Secondly, the recommendations - for books, memoirs, plays, poetry, resources, classroom ideas. There is a constant sharing as reference to one thing triggers memory of another. My ‘to be read’ pile grows and grows, and I am grateful.

Thirdly, the imaginative, creative responses where there are always, always, ‘diamonds’ to be found ‘in the dustheap’ of raw, unpolished writing - as Virginia Woolf might say. I wonder how tired teachers at the end of long days working under the toughest of circumstances pull off such magical images and ideas - but they do it without fail.

Last night, as we were writing ‘I’m from’ lists in response to George Ella Lyon’s ‘Where I’m From’ poem, one member wrote that they were from the ‘tap end of the bath’. The image resonated with me - as the oldest of three siblings, I too was saddled with the tap end. Those five words conjured a childhood world - scorching drips, protruding metal. No, insisted the writer - the tap end is the best part, the warmest part, in control of topping up the water when it’s needed.

So perhaps I can push it to serve as a rich metaphor for the project itself: as NWP members we are very much at the tap end, being ‘refilled’ with each visit.

A lifeline for poetry

NWP Free Spaces Group Convener David Marshall explains some of the challenges of running an NWP group - and why it’s worth it.

I run the London ‘Free Spaces’ group, which meets once or twice a term in different museums and galleries around London. Recently, we’ve been moving towards twice a term, as one didn’t feel quite enough. There’s around 5-7 people who regularly attend and there’s quite a lot of ‘silent’ members, who are on the email list but never attend or participate. I give people the option of being removed from the list, but few ask to be removed. I’d like to think that, though some don’t attend, they like being part of the group nevertheless. The way I see it, it’s important that the group meets regularly so that everyone knows that it’s meeting. That way, there’s always the option for people to come along one day, even if they never have.

One of the challenges is getting more teachers interested. I try to spread the word, but my network is quite limited. The other thing I’m aware of is that most of the regulars are either retired teachers or work in private schools (like me). It is very important for anyone in either of these two categories, but sometimes, I feel like I want it to reach more teachers on the front line of education. But something I remind myself is that the people who come are those who want to be there, and it must be important to them for them to give up their time.

I’m very committed to the group and to running it, even though I’m a full-time teacher. I took over when I returned from living abroad about 3 years ago and found that the group hadn’t met since I left. I emailed round and we started up again. We go to a range of places but find it’s easy to rotate to some of the same ones, particularly places that are central and have big cafes!

For me, the NWP is important because it’s a writing community. I’ve taken writing workshops and courses, some lasting several months. But there’s something great about a community because you’re there for each other over a long period of time and can build relationships. The meeting up for a chat is as important as writing together, sharing work and giving feedback. Often we find the writing leads on to a discussion about world events, politics and other things. It’s like it’s a catalyst for having important conversations that we don’t often have at home or with our colleagues.

It’s also important to me because it’s how I started writing poetry. I attended a workshop run by Jeni Smith and Simon Wrigley about 10 years ago at the British Library (during the NATE conference). Someone mentioned that it was important for English teachers to write in order to be able to teach writing. After this, I started writing regularly and set myself the challenge of writing a poem a day for a year. This got me into it, and helped me to improve. I continued writing regularly, sometimes taking classes and entering competitions or sending work to publications (very little was published). In Shanghai, I was part of a poetry group that produced a home-made zine and hosted open mic nights.

Since returning to London, I haven’t been doing as much writing. It’s been harder to find the time and so the NWP group has been a bit of a lifeline for poetry, keeping it going at least once or twice in a busy term. My aim is to get back to writing little and often. I think I’ll need to set myself a challenge like I did before.

However, there’s no doubt it has affected and improved my teaching of writing. I think the most important change is that it’s helped me to understand how difficult writing actually is. It has given me much more empathy, because I know that I would struggle with certain tasks just as much as the children do. Thinking a bit like a writer also helps me to spot where improvements could be made in a child’s work. It means I’m more able to see, not just what the child needs to do, but how. I can show them the way to make a change in their own writing.

10 Years of NWP

The National Writing Project is now a decade old in the UK: a worthy achievement and a significant milestone deserving of celebration.

At its heart that is ten years of encouraging and supporting teachers to become experts in the teaching of writing through a network of teachers’ writing groups. London’s ‘Whodunit group’ is one of the oldest and well-established of these, so it is fitting that it is their meeting this month which is being taken over to mark this special anniversary on Saturday 25th January.

We will meet at the Wellcome Collection, a museum on the Euston Road in London, in the cafe at 10am. NWP co-founder, Jeni Smith promises ‘writing fun and games’ between 10am and 1pm. The current exhibition at the Wellcome is called ‘Play Well’ and considers the transformational impact of play in our lives, so prompts will, of course, be appropriately playful!

All are welcome to join us. If you are an NWP member past or present, or considering becoming one in the future - and you are in London that weekend - come out and play! It will be the perfect opportunity to meet up with others from the NWP community, to write, to share, and to celebrate how far the project has come.

Started back in 2009 by Jenifer Smith, University of East Anglia, and by Simon Wrigley, English adviser for Buckinghamshire, 2004-2013, and chair of NATE, 2004-6, the UK’s project built on the long-running, successful US National Writing Project. Since then it has evolved through exciting partnerships, research and collaboration, carefully cultivated by the huge commitment, creative ideas and winning inspiration of Jeni and Simon.

Here’s to the next decade!