‘A Letter to No One’: An Exploration into Romantic Writing with Leah Hickey
Context
A large part of Leah’s practice is writing. Her writing references cinematic and pop-cultural sublime imagery and moments, producing text that refers to her grief in passages of time. Leah says:
‘When my Dad died, I felt like I saw him everywhere. I remember researching those big, age old questions of life after death and decomposition. I remember, specifically, reading about physical energy, and how that force never disappears, but is only transferred into another form. A blade of grass, a body of water, a butterfly. Still, now, a crow will perch atop the fence, and I’ll feel that he’s here.’
Leah’s session, ’A Letter to No One’ is a means to heal. It presents the opportunity to write a letter, taking inspiration from The Romantic Period, imagining; If you could speak to them one more time, what would you say?
The Romantic Period was an artistic and literary movement across Europe and America, from around the late 1700s to the mid-1800s. Romanticism, generally, sits against logic and reason, embracing the sublime, spiritual qualities of the natural world. Romantic artists were often inspired by profound emotion, these emotions usually being love or loss. Many Romantic writers used nature to symbolise these emotions, from crashing waves and rugged rocks, to rustling leaves and starry skies. An example of Leah’s romantic text below:
Offerings
I see you in magpies
I look to the Moon
and imagine you, up
Warmth of Sun, babbling of brook
You are the wind wrapped around me
flush against my cheek
The breaking bark, the falling leaf
The crow atop the fence
Through rain, through sleet and snow
Oh, how I miss you so!
Skies darken, orbs appear
How, here, I long to seer
You, and you alone
are the fire at the stove
The silence in our home
What I would give for minutes more
for you to stand here at our door
Speak of how you miss me, too
I dream of you
intrusively
Please, why, can't you come back to me!
I think of you in pudding
Crumble, custard, cream
You are the silver spoon I dream
to touch, to clutch, to hold
Hand now turning cold
Perhaps cloying destiny
that I must, now, wait to see
You, and you alone, once again
in our home
This can also be accessed on Leah’s website
Session outline
The session will happen in two parts:
Session One, Part One: Understanding Romanticism
This session will lay the foundation for your writing, through exploring different examples of Romantic literature. We’ll read through, and watch, the works of Blake and Brontë to find some inspiration.
Session One, Part Two: Writing to the Beyond
This session will help you to start structuring your ‘Letter to No One’, through writing your first rough draft. You’re welcome to share your work-in-progress and read aloud, should you feel confident.
Session Two: Gifting It to the Earth
In this session you will share how you delivered your letter to its destined reader. This might be posting your letter, burying it amongst soil, depositing it into a body of freshwater, or something else entirely. You are encouraged to document your decided ‘delivery’ method, showing and discussing this during the session.
Materials
You’re welcome to type or handwrite your letter, however you feel most comfortable.
Bibliography
Blake, W. (1804) And did those feet in ancient time. From Milton: A Poem in Two Books.
Brontë, E. (1847) Wuthering Heights.
Keats, J. (1818) Endymion: Book I.
Shelley, P. (1820) To a Skylark. From Prometheus Unbound.
Wilde, O. (1881) Humanitad. From Poems.
Wordsworth, W. (1807) I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. From Poems in Two Volumes.
Don't Look Now (1973) dir. Nicholas Roeg.
Carrie (1976) dir. Brian de Palma.
Rebecca (1940) dir. Alfred Hitchcock.
Wuthering Heights (1939) dir. William Wyler.
Throes of Grief participants responded to Leah’s Artist-Led Session and read their offerings aloud together in a safe and inclusive space.