Write Minds

Good mental wellbeing is vital for an efficient and effective workforce, and in an increasingly-unpredictable world it’s becoming more and more important to find avenues for safe and supportive self-expression.

In a study by Nottingham Trent University (NTU), they found that just over half (51%) of respondents indicated that reading and/or writing poetry had helped them deal with feelings of loneliness or isolation, and for a further 50% it had helped with feelings of anxiety and depression.

Write Minds is a 6-week course that teaches the basic tenets of poetry to staff, providing a safe and encouraging environment to practise and perfect the art of emotive writing. Each week tackles a different aspect of poetry writing; from structure and succinctness in the list poem to sensory descriptions and grounding techniques in place writing, each new exercise will provide a deeper understanding of the form and how the skills learned can be used for mental clarity at home and in the office.

Example Exercise:

The Train of Pain (The Commuting Rant Poem)

For many, the daily commute is an unavoidable fact of life – from our front doors to the office desk, via car or train, bike or bus, maybe even just a walk – regardless, it’s something we’ve all had to engage with in order to arrive here today.

Often, commuting can be a stressful and anxiety-inducing when we’re faced with heavy traffic, unspecified delays or cancellations, bad weather, flat tyres, busy streets and aimless walkers; the list goes on.

In this exercise, we’re going to take influence from John Cooper Clarke’s Evidently Chickentown to write our own rant poem about the frustrations of commuting, paying specific attention to what those frustrations are and how we can convey them as succinctly as possible, keeping each new complaint contained within one line of poetry.