A short list of things that made The John Hewitt Summer School awesome.

1. Poetry Workshops: I expressed my enthusiasm about the workshop in an earlier post about my first day at the festival, but I think it deserves another shout out. The first two classes were dedicated to exercises that transpired into beautiful poems. I learned so much about the form just through critiquing each other’s work; coupled with lectures by Siobhan Campbell. I also learned a little about the publishing process and literary magazines. I left feeling inspired to continue to read and write poetry
2. Two Sore Legs: A fantastic one-woman show that made me laugh and cry, and cheer until my voice went horse. There was a minimal set and the actress had a fur coat as her only prop, and yet I was completely captivated- I could envision every thing, person, and place that she spoke about. After watching this play I gained a better understanding of how having a beautifully written story and a talented actor can make all of the other gimmicks of theater obsolete. It’s interesting to think about how we are returning to more traditional styles of oral storytelling.
3. Open Mic Night: Apart from not being able to hear half of the poets, the poetry that I was able to hear (mainly the Americans, even the one that was not with the Armagh project) was great ‘crack’!
4. The Cool Kids from Queens: Chain smoking outside the festival and having hop scotch conversations- going from one topic and jumping into another one equally interesting. Lots of information sharing, laughing, and general excitement.