Q & A with Leslie Tate

Every week, author and poet Leslie Tate posts interviews with people who use their creativity in different ways.
It was a pleasure and privilege to be interviewed by Leslie in December 2021 about the links between my poetry, my educational writing for language learners, and my Writing for Wellbeing work.

Rachel Godfrey – Reflections in Writing (1) https://leslietate.com/2021/12/13/13832/
Leslie’s questions:
- Could you give a few examples, please, of what you call ‘writing used as reflective practice’. How do you work as a facilitator for Creative Writing for Wellbeing?
- As a writer of poetry, could you tell us how a poem comes to you and is reworked? What are the differences and similarities to writing books?
What have you learned about other people and yourself from Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)?
- Tell us about your published books and other writing. What transfers across from one genre of writing to another?

Rachel Godfrey – Reflections in Writing (2) https://leslietate.com/2021/12/20/13840/
Leslie’s questions:
- Can you describe examples of what you call the ‘relationships between our inner and outer landscapes, and the stories to be found there’?
- Could you give examples, please, of what you mean when you say creativity is about ‘drawing something – our thing – out of some pre-existing thing or stuff’.
- In your experience, how is it possible to use conscious intention and logic to explore the irrational and dream aspects of self? What’s the relationship between these two different approaches to experience?

From Leslie’s website:
’I’m 73, non-binary and a climate activist. On my website I post up weekly creative interviews and guest blogs showing how people use their imagination in life, in many different ways. I studied Creative Writing with the University of East Anglia and have been shortlisted for the Bridport, Geoff Stevens and Wivenhoe Prizes. I interview people weekly on Radio Dacorum and run a mixed arts show in Berkhamsted, UK.’