Poems for Penzance

What do you love about Penzance? What would you change? What are you excited about, worried about or hopeful for?

Poems for Penzance is a creative, multi-generational project inviting people to explore their relationship with Penzance through words, drawing and making. In this one-off creative workshop at Gardeners’ House, we’ll explore different ways of writing about place, using Penzance as our inspiration. We’ll think about the town as it is now, what it means to us, and what we hope for its future.

We’ll start by introducing Sustainable Penzance and Gardeners’ House, and thinking about the Living Archive and the stories, ideas and creative work that it holds. We’ll then explore poetry in a broad sense, looking at different kinds of poems, illustrated books and creative work for inspiration. Through playful word games, prompts and conversation, we’ll begin creating our own short pieces of writing about Penzance.

You might find yourself thinking about:

• If you could change one thing about Penzance, what would it be?
• What makes you excited about the future of the town?
• What are you concerned about?
• What places, people or landmarks are important to you?
• What words rhyme with the names of places around Penzance?
• What do you hope Penzance will be like in the future?

There are no rules about what a poem has to be — it could be a few lines, a list of words, a drawing with text, a rhyme, a reflection or something completely unexpected. Once you’ve created your piece, we’ll turn it into a beautiful, individual page using drawing, illustration and creative making. You’ll also have the opportunity to add a pressed flower, drawing or other small piece inspired by Penzance.

This workshop is open to anyone who is curious about Penzance, words, creativity and place. You don’t need to be a writer or an artist, and you don’t need any previous experience with poetry. Just bring your ideas and your thoughts about Penzance. Come along, have a play with words, and help us create Poems for Penzance.

A Gardeners’ House x Sustainable Penzance workshop

Becoming part of the Living Archive

The finished work will become part of Poems for Penzance, a growing collection of creative responses to the town. The project takes inspiration from books and poetry already held in the living archive at Gardeners’ House, bringing together historic and contemporary voices to create a snapshot of Penzance today. The hope is to create something that captures the feelings, ideas and hopes people have for the town, and leaves something behind for future generations to discover in the growing archive at the Gardeners’ House