Workshop online: briefschrijven a la Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen trad afgelopen week op in Nederland. Voor fans, dichters en poëzieliefhebbers stelde dichteres Kate Clancy een (Engelstalige) workshop samen op de site van The Guardian. "Schrijf een brief naar iemand die je kwijt bent geraakt." "Any sort of "lost"- through death, distance, illness, accident or rage. Recently or years ago. A friend, a lover, a parent, a child. The first thing to do is to name the person and to think about him or her for a while. You might want to look at a letter or a photograph. Now - some reading. This is all about tone. A letter is intimate, but also awkward and formal. It negotiates emotions within conventions, visceral memories and impulses within language. You are going to be doubly awkward and doubly formal because you are writing both intimately and publicly and in two forms: a letter and a poem."