Chris Culshaw

When I was young I thought I could write about anything. Now I’m older my palate is more restricted because of having more of a sense of what’s worth writing about.

For me the challenge is in trying to wrestle the snake of an idea into submission and pin it down into lines on a page.

• Here is a short video to support Chris' contributions to West Coast, North Hill, flax007
  
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Listen to Chris Culshaw read Bagatelle

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Biography

Chris was born in Carlisle in 1943, the youngest of seven children. His family moved to Southport when he was 11. He left home at 18 to work at Pilkington’s glass factory in St Helens, when he realised that wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life He trained as a maths and physics teacher. He taught in Liverpool for 5 years, got married, returned to university to do a psychology degree, before coming north to work at Morecambe High School as SEN co-ordinator where he remained for over 20 years.

Since retiring from classroom teaching in 1997, he has published over 250 titles for use in schools with OUP, Harper-Collins and Nelson, and also worked as a tutor in HMP Lancaster Castle and in mental health promotion with Connexions, the young persons’ advice and information service, in Blackpool.

In 2004 and 2006 he worked with Lancaster’s Ludus Dance Company as their emotional literacy adviser and writing the teacher’s resource pack for their acclaimed shows ‘Eugene’ and ‘Trapped.’

Personal Reflection

I began writing poetry in 1963, during my teacher training, encouraged by one of my tutors, Alan Durband, who was a founder of the Liverpool Everyman Theatre. It was tremendously exciting to be in Liverpool then. There was a democratic approach to poetry reading and poets and no sense of elitism.

The companionship and intellectual stimulation provided by writers’ groups have been very important for me, and because my higher education was primarily scientific and mathematical, the many hours spent in these groups have been significant element to my wider education. The discipline of writing brings perception and insight into your own thinking.

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