Dark Angels Note 146
Dearest Friends
Welcome back to our weekly Friday Note.
Observing
May is National Walking Month, an event organised by the charity Living Streets. Its aim is to inspire and encourage people to try 20 minutes of walking every day during #WalkThisMay. From walking meetings to mindful meanderings, they share 20 tips to try on your daily walk.
One of their tips is based around getting creative and includes a ‘Walkbook’ of recipes written by UK artists to support wellbeing through walking and creativity.
Walking and creativity have a long-established link. From real-life stories about walking, to great walks in literature, walking and writing go hand in hand.
Whether you go take to your feet when you get stuck or head out in search of inspiration, you are walking a well-trodden path that connects walking with writing.
Reading
“The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as literature – a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells.” – Robert Macfarlane
Read: The Footpath to Yourself: Robert Macfarlane on Landscape as a Lens on Inner Life on The Marginalian.
Writing
Go for a walk. On your return, use the following prompt: While I was out walking, I noticed….
Sharing
If you’ve read and enjoyed Dark Angels: Three Contemporary Poets Book One, we wondered if you might consider nominating it for a Saboteur Award.
Nominations close on 24th May – we’d really appreciate your support. Find out more here.
Keep sending us your poems, writings, links and writerly whatnots that you’d like to share with the wider Dark Angels family.
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Diary
Starter Day, 17 May 2023
This one-day course in central London will introduce you to some of the core ideas and practices that underpin the Dark Angels approach to writing – whether that’s writing for work or for your own creative expression.
Find out more here.
Weekly Tuesday Gatherings
There’s no Gathering on 9 May. Back to normal the week after.
Join us for a reflective hour of reading, writing and communing led by Neil Baker. Everyone is welcome; in fact, invite a friend along. We meet at 7pm UK time. To join us, click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance and we’ll be using the same link every week from now on.
Hearts, Inspired, 16-21 June 2023
Join us for a 5-day writing retreat on Whidbey Island, in the US Pacific Northwest. We’ll explore writing, creativity and inspiration through guided writing, personal projects and time in nature.
Find out more here.
Words Are Seeds, 19-23 June 2023
Five days of writing, rituals and nature connection at Bore Place over the summer solstice. We’re expecting a lively, stimulating and playful experience, with plenty of time for individual pondering, wondering and wandering – and writing.
Find out more here.
Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.
From everyone at Dark Angels