Archaeologist, ethnologist and poet Cáit O’Neill McCullagh returns to Timespan to lead a series of 3 workshops on Wednesday mornings, 10am-12pm on 13th, 20th, 27th September exploring eco-poetry writing.

Inspired by examples from historical and contemporary poets, and the ecology of the area, join us to write poems voicing dialogues between people and our planet.

Participants will develop an understanding of the concept of ecopoetics, practice writing in diverse poetic forms, acquire tools for editing their work, learn about presenting their poems on the page, and as spoken word performances. The free workshops are open to poetry of any level to develop further poetic tools or begin their journey into poetry.

I have never written poetry before, and now I am writing every day. The workshops have been transformative. Said a participant of Cáit’s previous poetry workshop at Timespan

The outcomes of the workshops will be presented on Saturday 30th over the Earth Writes Back Picnic part of Highland and Islands Climate Festival.

Cáit O’Neill McCullagh

A Highland-Irish archaeologist/ethnologist and educator in Higher and Community Education settings, Cáit began writing poetry in December 2020. Over 60 of her poems have been published as single items in print and online, including in New Writing Scotland; Poetry Scotland; Northwords Now, and in various anthologies. Her essays and articles founded in literary criticism have been published in magazines and edited volumes, and she reviews new poetry collections, on request, for Bella Caledonia and Northwords Now.

A Co-winner of Dreich’s ‘Classic Chapbook 2022’, she was also a winner in the Saboteur Awards for poetry in 2023. She is a Trustee of Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre and Co-director of The Wee Gaitherin Poetry Festival. Her first full-length collection will be published by Drunk Muse Press in Spring 2024. See: https://linktr.ee/caitjomac 

Cáit has been commissioned to design and deliver poetry writing workshops for various organisations, including the UHI, Lairg & District Learning Centre, Highlands and Islands Climate Hub, The Wee Gaitherin, UNESCO Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow, Inverness Skatepark and Timespan.
Workshops participants’ commendations have included:

It was a lovely experience from start to finish! Cait has such an encouraging and nurturing manner, it was the ideal space and atmosphere to inspire poetry.

I have been to many writing courses and workshops both in person and in Zoom and this is definitely one of my favourites.

Cait has such a depth of knowledge in many areas. Whatever subject she chooses would be enlightening.