St. Mary’s Poetry Circle
The St. Mary’s Poetry Circle was started in autumn 2018 by two members of the congregation Dr Paul Jarman and Dr John Florance. Originally, we met in the church itself, then when the weather got colder we moved into the Newark Quaker Meeting House which was considerably warmer. Despite the Covid epidemic we still meet via Zoom.
The continuing object of the Circle is simply to discuss poems which can loosely be described as ‘spiritual’ and so explore our own faith, doubts and convictions. But if that sounds a little serious be assured that the meetings are all informal and appeal to people whose knowledge of poetry is limited as well as to those who are real poetry enthusiasts.
Members of the group come from various denominations: there are Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Methodists and Quakers and others. And since the advent of Zoom meetings, we have gained members from across the Midlands and as far away as North Wales and the South Coast. Everyone is welcome and you can contribute to meetings as much or as little as you like.
We have already looked at wide range of poets including John Betjeman, George Herbert, Elizabeth Jennings, Christina Rossetti, T. S. Eliot, R. S. Thomas and many others. You might not like some of the poems but we very much hope that you will enjoy most of them. In addition, we try to read poems which accord with the church calendar eg. Easter, Advent, Christmastide and so on.
The meetings, even the ones carried on by Zoom, are real social occasions and it is a very welcoming group whose members are warm and friendly. Invariably they say they look forward greatly to the gatherings which are held from 7pm till 8.30 pm fortnightly on Wednesdays.
If you would like further details do get in touch!
Please contact us at: newarkpg@gmail.com