Poetry Power Hour: Free poetry coaching with Hinemoana Baker

A woman with a ta moko, or tattoo, on her chin and is wearing glasses. She is looking at the cameraKia ora koutou!

I have decided that while I am here doing the Randell Cottage residency, I’d like to offer some free poetry coaching sessions on weekday mornings, and occasionally also on the weekends. I’m calling each session a POETRY POWER HOUR. The sessions will be just one hour, and poets will be able to use the time however they would like to.

Some options for how to spend our time together could be:

  • Choosing a writing exercise we like, and then co-writing together for an hour
  • Talking about a poem they would like feedback on (I won’t be doing any pre-reading, so the reading and feedback will both happen during the session)
  • Discussing the practicalities of being a writer/artist in the world today –how to find time? how to get through writing block? ways to deal with negative feedback or rejection, or even how to process our successes?
  • Bringing poems we really love to the session and reading them aloud to each other
  • Help with arranging poems into a manuscript for potential publication
  • Talking about my experience of being a writer, poet and performer overseas

Basically I will make myself available for anything poetry-related and we can chat about it for an hour while drinking coffee (well, I will definitely be drinking coffee!) The sessions will mostly be held at the Wellington Writers Studio, above the Peter McLeavey Gallery on Cuba Street, and they will happen from 9–10am (sometimes I’ll be able to do 8–9am if need be, by arrangement).

Other locations are possible if that suits the poets and me better, but the time of day is less flexible: this will be a morning activity for me. If you write things other than poetry and you really want to book, go ahead! Just know that my main area of expertise is poetry/performance.

These are genuinely free sessions – poets can buy me a coffee if they really want to, but the main reward I get from this is that it will provide me with a structure for my mornings. This is something invaluable for me during writing residencies.

HERE’S THE LINK TO BOOK YOUR FREE POETRY POWER HOUR!

If you have any questions you can text me on 022 4301 567 or email hinemoana@hinemoana.co.nz

One session per poet at this stage – I may open this up later in the year.

Can’t wait to hang out with you lovely poetry folks!

Mauri ora,

Hinemoana