As we turn the corner into September, Charlotte shares some recent comments from writers currently participating in the Understory. Just in case any others feel curious… 🙂 🧡
Charlotte Gann: Before I squirrel these new comments-from-members away on the website, thought I’d share them here, in a post. Because, for me, they capture so well the essence of what the Understory Conversation is all about.
Most are reflecting on experiences of being in a small ongoing group; a few also touch on one-to-one ‘companioning’ along the way.
The Understory has become a safe creative space, evolving in a totally different way than I’d first expected. It’s so much more than a group who share ongoing work. Charlotte facilitates each session in such a skillful way – we meet as equals, and over time have learned to trust and respect each other on a deep level. This has enabled me to be totally honest about my own creative ideas and aspirations, possibly for the first time in my life.
The Understory addresses my writing process – but that’s a superficial answer. The number of times I’ve come to our meetings without inspiration, disconnected from my writing; blocked and resigned to it… then after two hours of our conversation I leave with my inner world changed. I think ‘enriched’ is the word. Often it feels like a small miracle – how we find themes running between us that might have been unnoticed, how we explore them, how we generate energy between ourselves. It’s made me surer of my relationship with my own voice, and taught me truths about what this ‘process’ really is. Of my extramural writing activities, the Understory group has been the most important.
I love our Understory group. Charlotte excels at creating a nurturing atmosphere, which goes beyond the typical workshop. This is the sort of support every writer needs to find their creative courage.
I really enjoy working with Charlotte. I can always trust her feedback to be insightful, but encouraging, too. I leave our sessions feeling more in touch with my own voice and what I want the poem to say.
Belonging to an Understory group has reminded me of the pleasures of being in a group of people who work to support and enrich each other’s creative lives. Nothing like it.
Working one-to-one with Charlotte gave me the confidence to finish a sequence of poetry I needed to write about a very difficult time in my life. Greatly appreciated.
Three words about the Understory group I’ve belonged to for a couple of years now: safe, expansive, mutual. The ‘what three words’ of poems. Charlotte creates the space, then opens it up to all of us. Always discoveries, always a pleasure, sometimes a lifeline.
I’m meeting with Charlotte once a month, alongside the project of writing a book. The sessions are an anchor, and they bring me back to whatever’s happening. There’s a sense of delight and steadiness in the process. If I’ve wandered off for a while, the date in my diary helps me come back to myself and wherever the writing is. Afterwards there’s fresh focus and energy; the clarity comes back to life, at least for a while. And then there’s another meeting.
Without Charlotte’s presence and the anchoring she offers, the book would probably be lost.
The Understory group, led by Charlotte Gann, is unlike any group or workshop I have encountered. The meetings are framed in a way that creates a safe and encouraging space where writing from one’s own vulnerabilities is enabled. This has allowed me to take a big step forward in my own practice.
Charlotte’s empathy allows her to grasp what drives your intentions for your work. This, combined with insightful, personal guidance delivered with clarity, is a rare gift.
The Understory group is a welcoming and very supportive space to talk and discuss your own and others’ writing. The feedback is perceptive and invaluable and never negative.
We always start the session by ‘checking in’ which involves telling other members of the group how we feel and how this feeds into our writing. The ‘Understory’ is the basis of our own experiences and how those experiences emerge in our writing.
You can have 1:1 discussions about your writing with Charlotte and I found this incredibly useful and these discussions enabled me to edit and sort my poems. She is able to see the themes and styles of your writing and supports and encourages you to explore and think about why you write about certain things.
Understory group is a small group in which we share creative practice. Meeting monthly our connection has deepened over time and the group has been invaluable in my development as a poet. As with more conventional workshops help with close editing is available but the group offers much more – a chance to examine themes and dilemmas, share inspirations, time to reflect … Charlotte actively participates in the group as well as facilitating. The group is a place where I can connect with the joy of writing and artistic community, as well as receiving excellent critical feedback when required.
You can take yourself along to Charlotte Gann’s Understory Group as a writer, and bring your human with you.
The groups are for sharing what you’re writing, why and how you’re writing it, and equally, what you’d like to be writing but aren’t.
You can talk about how crap you think you are, how you envy all other writers, how you’re overwhelmed by social media, and also what you feel passionate about.
In my experience, in most poetry workshop groups you have to leave a large chunk of your sensibility behind. Poetry workshops may be good for critiquing your poetry if you’re lucky, but they’re not the place for sharing the vulnerabilities, hopes and fears you have for your writing. Or for sharing and clarifying your motivations and intentions. Being able to articulate these things helps to create the space in your head that we all need to write.
Charlotte runs a group that cares about who you are, as well as who you are as a writer. Because she holds that ethic clearly, everyone participates in it.
- Curious? Find out more about joining an Understory group, or one-to-one sessions; and drop us a line for more details.