The Kingfisher poetry group meets weekly to write poetry and then share a lunch together afterwards. We are a unique group of people, who care for each other and sharing poetry helps us to bond and to cope with the strains of life. We write our own verse, which can vary from rhyme, prose, sonnets to some fabulous wit. We are open to trying other forms of poetry also.
The original Kingfisher project was a 10 year collaboration between ArtCare and Salisbury Arts Centre, which began in 1999. The creative writing and poetry project brought people in the hospital and the community together. Working with poet Rose Flint, participants used words to get through periods of illness or, in a more general sense, to express themselves about life. When Lottery funding ceased, the Kingfisher poets continued to meet after the 10 year project came to an end.
The project still flourishes at the Salisbury Arts Centre, and it is run so that people who have minor or more serious health issues can attend the group and be with company that is in tune with them. Grace Gauld is now the group’s lead writer and Mike Rogers is the chair person. Grace is well known in Salisbury as she used to run the poetry cafe. For a small sum of twenty pounds every quarter, we are able to bring in another lead poet five weeks a year to work with us.
The Kingfisher poetry club meets at 10.30am every Thursday at the Salisbury Arts Centre. We have a full capacity membership at the moment, however if you should be interested in joining the group when a place is available, please email Mike Rogers with your details.
Poem from the Kingfisher project
All tomorrows
filled with blue sky
sweet earth
gives and gives
flowers
Sun enough
for daisies
the hills still green
Light folds me
in joy
these green hills
curve
like loving hands
This wide sky
this land of green
hills
five rivers
of life
answer
my heart’s
healing
with love
Highlights of the original project
- a set of nine colourful poem postcards written by participants and linked by the title ‘Healing Earth’, delicately illuminated by Salisbury artist Laurence Rushby, Gardener poem pictured above.
- ‘Confluence’: original works by Kingfisher project poets taking inspiration from Salisbury’s confluence of five rivers interpreted in movement by Jigsaw, Salisbury Youth Dance Company.
- ‘Wishing Well table’ – a commission by Zoë Cull for the hospital’s Nunton Unit and a series of calligraphy artworks by Helen Scholes illustrating Rose Flint’s residency
