This Spring we welcomed Arizona-based poet Jodie Hollander to The Morrab Library as our Poet in Residence. Kindly sponsored by The Myner Trust, this month-long Residency (15th April – 10th May 2025) was an opportunity to share Jodie’s powerful poetry and thoughtful workshops with our Library community.
Jodie first visited us in 2023 as part of her national book tour, presenting a reading to members and hosting a poetry workshop. In 2024, she was the judge of the Sonnet category for the Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry. You can read more about Jodie’s work here.
Above: Jodie Hollander
Above: a selection of Jodie’s photographs from her stay
Jodie stayed in Newlyn for the duration of her trip, walking to the Library along the Prom and up through the Morrab Gardens, to experience and seek inspiration from the library each day. She worked her way around the rooms – Poetry, Elizabeth Treffry, Literature – to sense out which desk she preferred and settled in for many writing days, soaking in the stillness and atmosphere of the Library’s top floor.
Above and right: Jodie’s favourite desk, in the Literature Room.
Jodie delivered three sold out poetry workshops during her visit. In the first session, her class discussed Nature Poetry and then wrote their own pieces inspired by the Library’s setting in Morrab Gardens. In a subsequent workshop, with the May sunshine streaming in through the Reading Room windows, her group considered and shared the poetry of grief and healing. Jodie also visited Penwith College to lead a writing workshop to some of their English Literature students.
Above: Fully booked workshops at The Morrab Library. Right: Library views.
During her ‘Ekphrastic Poetry’ workshop the class were let loose to roam around the library in search of a piece of artwork, photograph or a curio found within our collection to write about. Some of the group have kindly given permission for us to share excerpts and first drafts of the poems they wrote during this class, alongside the piece of work that inspired it.
Click here to read Bridget Crowley’s unfinished first draft of a poem called ‘How to Look at a Picture’.
Click here to read Sue Hawkins’ poem, ‘Women on the beach’, inspired by a painting on the wall of the Photo Archive.
Click here to read Mike Higgins’ poem, ‘Why?’ inspired by Dennis Myner’s painting of St Ives, which was on display for the duration of the workshop’.
Jodie’s classes were open to all, members and non-members alike, those who already love writing poetry and those for whom this was a first foray. It was lovely for the library to be alive with poetry and we heard such lovely feedback from the people who attended the sessions.
In fact, Jodie’s positive energy permeated throughout the building during her residency. It really felt like she had taken up permanent residence in the Literature Room so it was confusing when the weeks whistled by and we were reserving her desk for the last time. Jodie was a familiar sight – writing, chatting with library members about her work and theirs, sharing coffee breaks and conversation with other members in the kitchen. We were so grateful for her boundless enthusiasm!
We bookended the residency with poetry readings; the first was an opportunity to introduce Library members to Jodie’s collections – My Dark Horses and Nocturne – and discuss her work in a relaxed setting. Both of these collections are available to borrow from the Library and you can watch the recording of her talk HERE.
The residency concluded with a Poetry Open Mic Afternoon Tea which opened with Jodie reading some of her recent series of Climate Poems. We recorded Jodie reading two of these poems (on a very sunny day) – ‘Rain’ and ‘A Picture of Vail’ (right).
Attendees of her workshops, alongside local poets, took to the informal stage of the Reading Room to perform their work, many choosing to share poems they had created during Jodie’s classes.
Here are Jodie’s thoughts about her time at The Morrab:
“My month spent here as poet-in-residence at The Morrab Library has been nothing short of divine. I’m sitting here in a reading room on my last day before my journey home, still in disbelief that I’ve had such an extraordinary opportunity to teach and write out of this beautiful library, with its kind and knowledgeable staff and volunteers, and friendly members who made me feel right at home as I settled in. I couldn’t have asked for a better month, from the well-attended workshops and readings, to the days of glorious sunshine, and the walks home looking at the sea. This was a month filled with inspiration and happiness.
One of my highlights was teaching poetry workshops to such an eager and talented group. In all three of my workshops, I was in awe of the knowledge, passion and willingness to learn of all the participants who attended. But I was even more impressed with the caliber of poems that came from these workshops. It was a pleasure and honor to watch these poets and their poems blossom, and an even greater pleasure to hear many of them read their poems aloud with poise and courage at the Open Mic reading on May 10th.
When I wasn’t teaching workshops or giving readings, I was spending as much time as I possibly could in the reading rooms. I think this must be the most beautiful library on earth! With the shelves of antique books, the views of the subtropical gardens, and the sea sparkling in the distance, I felt as if I’d landed in a small corner of heaven. While I had initially set out to work on my collection in-progress, which is a series of poems about climate change, as soon as I hit British soil, I was inspired to write a series of poems on Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. This project I had only just begun during my last trip to England, after I spent ten days at the Elmet Trust, living in Hughes’ childhood home. I never imagined I’d have a sheaf of poems on the subject. Here, my writing came freely and easily, and the incredible poetry selection in the Poetry Room was a huge help to me. By the end of the month, I couldn’t believe how much writing I had done. But it wasn’t only the time to write, it was also the magical quality of The Morrab Library, Penzance, the sea, and all of you helping me to feel comfortable, welcome and inspired.
I cannot say thank you enough to The Myner Trust for kindly funding this once in a lifetime opportunity, and to Lisa, Harriet, James, and all the amazing staff, members and volunteers who make The Morrab Library such a delightful, uplifting and glorious place to read, study and write. Thank you all for making this such an incredible month filled with inspiration and joy. I will miss this place, and I will think of it often.”
Many thanks to The Myner Trust for funding this Poetry Residency and to Jodie Hollander for all of her work here. We look forward to reading the work Jodie created while in situ and will share it with you in due course.