Writing the Trickster: Lifting Inspiration from Folklore and Myth

Though shaped by differing sociopolitical forces, the Trickster is a universal figure associated with storytelling, deception and intelligence. As a liminal, shapeshifting messenger between the Gods and humanity, the Trickster can embody the transgressive power of poetry itself. Through readings of texts by Shakespeare, Carol Rumens, Simon Maddrell, Duane Niatum, Fawzia Muradali Kane and others, this poetry workshop will explore Trickster narratives from places including Britain, the Isle of Man, the Salish Coast and Tobago. While alert to the intersectional histories of oppression embedded in these tales of household sprites and devilish ghosts, writing exercises will encourage responses in the Trickster spirit of mischief, humour and cunning survival. Participants will be invited to rifle their own storytelling traditions and domestic routines, and to thoughtfully consider their positionality in relation to cultures not their own.

About Naomi Foyle

Naomi Foyle is an award-winning British-Canadian poet, novelist and editor based in West Sussex. Her poems, pamphlets and collaborative filmpoems have won prizes or placed in national and international competitions, and her work has featured four times as Poem of the Week in the Guardian. Her four full collections are The Night Pavilion, an Autumn 2008 PBS Recommendation, The World Cup (2010), Adamantine (US/UK, 2019), and Salt & Snow (2025), a collection of elegies Carol Rumens called “Impressively varied and agile in form, international in scope … as emotionally rich as it is politically alert” (The Guardian). Naomi is Reader in Critical Imaginative Writing at the University of Chichester, and Poetry and Fiction Editor of the journals Critical Muslim and Gramarye.

Zoom

These workshops will be conducted via Zoom. We have put together this simple 'How To' document to help you download Zoom, join a meeting, and navigate around the meeting features (such as adjusting video and audio, uploading files, and sharing screens).

You will receive a confirmation email from Ticket Tailor with your ticket and the Zoom invitation, containing the meeting link and Meeting ID & Password.

Someone from The Poetry Business team will be on hand prior to each workshop to offer additional help in getting connected.

There is usually a lot of interest in our workshops: in the interest of fairness, please limit yourself to one workshop ticket in every two week period.

Bursary Spaces

There are two bursary spaces available per workshop for writers from groups that are under-represented in contemporary poetry (for instance because of ethnic background) or who are experiencing financial hardship. If you would like to apply for one of these bursary places, please contact workshops@poetrybusiness.co.uk

Refunds

If you no longer wish to attend the workshop please let us know by emailing us. We ask for 3 working days' notice before the workshop starts in order to offer a full refund, and enable us to offer the place to someone else.

Though we will do all we can to help you get set up with the technology it is the participants' responsibility to ensure that their camera, microphone and other computer settings are configured correctly. Please contact us (workshops@poetrybusiness.co.uk) if you are concerned about getting set up for Zoom.