Poetry Ireland Éigse Éireann and Schools Across Borders
Creative Writing Project

 

Every child has the right to freedom of expression:
To say, write and draw what she or he thinks...

We are delighted to introduce a new and exciting partnership between
Schools Across Borders and Poetry Ireland Éigse Éireann.
Schools Across Borders is an organisation that aims to empower young people to form and express their own opinions freely.
Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann is the national poetry organisation of Ireland.
The Poetry Ireland Education Department runs a scheme you may know,
the Writers-in-Schools Scheme, and the Poetry Aloud Poetry Speaking Competition.
SAB and PI piloted this new programme over the 2008/2009 school year, and we hope to begin another Creative Writing Project programme with this year’s students from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Palestine and Israel. Already looking forward to seeing the outcome of their creative efforts!

I felt that I can show ‘the world’ a bit from my reality. Shaked Gur, Jerusalem

Empowerment
One of the most significant messages of the programme is communication: between students themselves; and between students and the wider world. When Poetry Ireland teamed up with Schools Across Borders, it provided us with the chance to meet with, and help to encourage and develop the creative potential of students from Ireland and Northern Ireland, Palestine and Israel.

I took so much from this workshop, I really enjoyed it and ever since
I have been writing poems much more often ... Enjoy life, live it to its fullest,
enjoy every piece of it and for peace use it. David Heller, Jerusalem

Interdependence and the Indivisibility of Human Rights and Universal Values are fundamental principles of the Schools Across Borders/Poetry Ireland Creative Writing Project. Students are encouraged to understand and value their rights and the power they possess within themselves.
For this project the students were free to choose both the form and the theme of their writing, while also being given the option of choosing a theme from a suggested list.
This proved very successful: the work created was diverse in form and subject matter.

READ for yourself an assortment of the students work, poetry, prose and song, produced last year, that demonstrates the students’ energy, ability and creativity!

Part 1: Virtual Mentoring

The programme kicked off in month, 2009, when 33 students from Dublin, Dundalk, Belfast, Jerusalem and Hebron sent their work by email to poet and publisher Seamus Cashman. The students had a virtual mentor in Seamus, who helped them with feedback and constructive suggestions on how to develop their work.

I really enjoyed the Poetry Ireland workshop as it helped me gain a greater
confidence in myself through working with Seamus Cashman and students of
different backgrounds. Natasha Walker - Belfast

Part 2: Creative Writing Workshops
Students travelled from Dundalk, Belfast, Hebron and Jerusalem to take part in two workshops that took place in Dublin in 2009. The students were introduced to new and inspiring creative writing techniques, and had the chance to discuss their work on a one-to-one basis with him.

>>Click here to read in full what the students thought of the workshops<<

The workshops, both actual and virtual, gave the students the opportunity to explore their own potential, and also provided professional guidance about the craft of writing and recognition of thework produced. At the end of the project students handed their final pieces to Seamus Cashman, and poet and children’s writer Enda Wyley, who chose a number of merit pieces. Although the programme did not set out to be a competition a number of student’s received Merit Awards in recognition of their unique creative work - READ THEM HERE!

The Merit Awards go to...

Ciara O’Connor, Dundalk - Crossing Borders (fiction)
Davy Shaw, Dundalk - September 19th 1944 (fiction)
Felix Berger, Dundalk - A day in the life of a paramedic (non-fiction)
Mark McCabe, Dundalk -  Nights like this (fiction)
Sean McKenna, Dundalk - Nothing else to blues (song)
Olivia Hicks, Dublin - The other we don’t know II (fiction)
Murali Rathinasabapathirajendran, Dublin) Little princess/ Your can do it (poems)
Florian Sanchez, Dublin - One day (poem)
Mustafa Ramadan, Dublin - To the…. (poem)
Joanne Collins, Dublin - Spiralling out of Control (fiction)
Rand Tahboub, Hebron - My freedom / Between two worlds (poems)
Nahir ……, Jerusalem - Meet down here (poem)
David Heller, Jerusalem - A day in the life (poem)
Shaked Gur, Jerusalem - 5 years ago (poem)
Shalev Paller, Jerusalem - An eye for an eye (poem)
Yarden Ishai, Jerusalem - Without you (poem)
Bar Shitrit, Jerusalem - All the tears have dropped (poem)

Commended

Shona McGarry - Teenage Angst
Natasha Deborah Walker - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Louise Kincaid - Sometimes
Mairéad Una Doyle - A precious object
Peter Woods - The Big Anti-Freeze

SOME COMMENTS FROM PARTICIPATING STUDENTS:

So ... the schools across borders writer's workshop was a lot of fun. It was the first time I'd been to a writing workshop, and unlike other creative types, Seamus Cashman was really open and really modest, considering how much he knew
and had done in regards to writing. Obviously not all methods of writing stories and poetry is for everyone, but trying something different (for me, that was poetry) is a good experience for all aspiring writers to have. Also, the whole mentor
idea was really cool. When you force friends to read your work you never
get a critical analysis, and I think it's important for writers to show
their work to people who might not necessarily like it. And I like the
way we would all have the same starting point, (e.g. a picture of red squares)
and we all came out with completely different ideas and works.
It was like group therapy, but the fun kind!
Olivia Hicks - Dublin

While I was in Ireland I had an opportunity to participate in a
writing workshop with the writer Seamus Cashman. The aim for this
workshop was to improve our writing skills and how to think while
writing. It was a great opportunity for me to meet with somebody
that has so much more knowledge than I do and give me the
benefit of his experience all the way he had gone through. In this
workshop we were given the basics of writing and thinking
while writing all in an entertaining way.

Through and after finishing this workshop I’ve realised that
my writing skills have improved and I’m looking
forward to improving it more by reading the book he gave me
and I am trying to follow his steps to be as successful as he is.
Rand Tahboub - Hebron

The poetry workshop and the project in the whole is a great
opportunity for anyone to express themselves as an artist.
It was not only about writing poems. It was a lot more than that.
I have come to know more about myself, as an artist, through this project.
I discovered talents in myself that I didn't even know I possessed.
I also got to improve my skills as a writer thanks to
Seamus Cashman and even the other students who participated.
That poetry workshop I had was no mere workshop as it pushed me to my limits of imagination and through the exercises that were given,
I realised many new things that a regular person could never realise.
From my point of view, this was an opportunity of a
lifetime and I'm very grateful that I was a part of it.
Murali Rathinasabapathirajendran - Dublin

I thought it was very enjoyable. To have your work looked
over by a professional poet was a chance of a lifetime.
Being able to spend a day with other young people who
share the same passion for writing as me was amazing.
It was an experience I’ll never forget, one I’m very thankful for.
Louise Kincaid - Belfast

It was a nice and interesting experience and I felt that I can show “the world” a bit from my reality and also share my writing skills (for the first time in English).
Shaked Gur - Jerusalem

I have personally thought it was a great experience and
I was able to get great thing out of it.
Mustafa Ramadan - Dublin

I took so much from this workshop, I really enjoyed it
and ever since I have been writing poems much more often ...
Enjoy life, live it to its fullest, enjoy every piece of it and for peace use it.
David Heller - Jerusalem

I really enjoyed the Poetry Ireland workshop as it helped
me gain a greater confidence in myself through working with
Seamus Cashman and students of different backgrounds.
Natasha Walker - Belfast