K a t r i n a  P o r t e o u s

Biography    Publications    Radio poetry 
Readings, workshops and talks    Collaborations 
 Events    Poems

Readings, Workshops and Talks

Poetry Readings:

Katrina writes poetry to be read out loud, in the tradition of the Border Ballads. She performs widely, often accompanied by traditional musicians. Appearances include: St Ives Poetry Festival (Cornwall) 2002, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (Suffolk) 2002, Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh 2003, Lincolnshire Rural Touring 2004, Southwell Poetry Festival 2004, Poetry-Next-the-Sea (Wells, Norfolk) 2005. She has also read recently with Keith Armstrong in Tuebingen, Germany, and in Prague.

'I caught her performing on a cold Friday night in a bare room at an adult education centre in Leicester...She went down a storm, turning from a slightly diffident, scholarly figure with a double lisp to a performer, even protester, with a sing-song ferocity.' (Alan Franks, The Times)

See a review of Katrina's reading with Alice Oswald at the Southwell Poetry Festival 2004.

Poetry Workshops:

Katrina has many years' experience of encouraging writers at all levels, through friendly, supportive workshops for adults and lively sessions for children of all ages. In them, participants discover that the best poetry is rooted in the physical world, through the use of imagery and sound.

A member of the National Association of Writers in Education and an Arvon Foundation tutor, Katrina has been Writer-in-Residence in a variety of settings from the Shetland Islands to the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival.

In her first and middle school workshops Katrina specializes in teaching local history through poetry. Her senior school and adult workshops concentrate on close observation, the expressive use of sound in poetry, and on exploring ‘local identity’ through writing.

Consultancy Work — teaching non-fiction through poetry:

When non-fiction such as history is taught to first and middle-school children using creative arts such as poetry, the results are often spectacular. Children become much more personally and emotionally involved with the subject through their creative work.

Katrina is available as a consultant, advising schools on teaching non-fiction (history) through poetry. Her essays on this subject include: Writing at the Coalface for Booktrust's 'Writing Together' conference 2002; and Play, Pleasure and Passion, published in the journal of NAWE, Writing in Education, Autumn 2001.

Talks — The Northumberland Inshore Fishing Tradition:

The Northumberland fishing tradition has shaped our coastal communities and given them a strong sense of identity, which has traditionally been bound up with respect for nature and place. Katrina gives talks and lectures on her work with the Northumbrian fishing community, combining her deep knowledge of the history of this way of life with a passionate argument for why it matters.

Complementing her fishing poetry, her published talks include: Mapping the Human Landscape, ENSUS 2005, School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, April 2005.

An interview with Katrina, together with her own film of the Beadnell fishermen, appears as ‘Sea of Memories’ on the CB TV video / DVD, The Last Fishermen.

Please contact Katrina for further information about availability for any of the above.