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On September 23rd from 3 till 4 p.m., Steve Thorp will be leading a ‘Sunday conversation’ at the Nant y Coy arts venue in Pembrokeshire on the theme of ‘the poet in the landscape‘. Peppered with poems from his own boxed collections and work from other poets, the talk will invite reflection and conversation on what it is about landscape that inspires creativity – and particularly poetry. Building on insights drawn from his work as a therapist and counsellor – as well as his poetry – the hour long conversation will hopefully provide both a time for escape and contemplation and leave people looking at the world a little differently!

“One of the things that anyone – poet, artist, farmer, photographer, walker, tourist – loves about Pembrokeshire is the landscape. But it’s not just the landscape of hills and headlands that mean so much to us – there’s something about this place that speaks of belonging.

Yet this will be the same for other places too; so this conversation is about what it is about place, about landscape, that is so important to us and inspires our creativity – our art, photography and our poetry. And it will also be about what we bring of ourselves to the landscape that enables something of meaning and beauty to emerge. Maybe it’s when we MEET the landscape outside with the landscape inside that poetry (and art) emerges. For me, a good poem digs deep inside ourselves.”

Steve Thorp.

There’s something about creativity that has a habit of making work not seem like work. Like last week, when we were on holiday we did some sunbathing, surfing, walking and read Harry Potter – but we also found new outlets for creative thorp products, and attended the launch of the Contemporary – Traditional showcase exhibition that runs for the whole of August at the The Coterie Contemporary Design Space in Haverfordwest, and which features Mary’s photographic artwork.

Last Monday we visited Nant y Coy Arts, a wonderful place on the A40 at Wolfscastle . Set in woods and meadows the centre-piece of the place is a gallery in the fully restored Watermill. The place is worth a visit for a number of reasons, but its been set up to “encourage the experiencing of creativity through different mediums and different senses”. Creative thorp cards, prints and poetry boxes are being stocked in the gallery shop – and Steve is hoping to lead some workshops at Nant y Coy in the Autumn. Details will be posted here! In the meantime – click here to explore the Nant y Coy website.