Creative Chat ‘n’ Blog – Leanne Moden

Listen to Leanne’s podcast episode here.

When lockdown came into force in March 2020, I lost all my freelance work overnight. As a performance poet, I do a lot of arts and music festivals, and the cancelation of these left a real hole in my calendar. I also run workshops in schools, and I had two large schools projects cancelled because of the pandemic. 

It was certainly a shock to begin with, but as a freelance artist, I’m fairly used to precarious working. Thankfully, since Spring 2020, I’ve been able to work with wonderful organisations like MarketPlace, and be part of innovative projects bringing creativity to communities in the digital space.  

As an educator, I was initially concerned that video conferencing would be complicated and sterile when compared to face-to-face facilitation. Luckily, the fantastic folk at Paper Cranes – the writing collective I run in Nottingham – were supportive and patient while we worked out how to switch to online sessions. Now, I relish the challenge of teaching groups online, and being able to continue to write with our collective has been a real boost to my mental health too! 

I also took the opportunity to do a number of live performances over Zoom, and I’ve really enjoyed ‘visiting’ events across the world. Being able to connect across borders and time zones has enabled collaboration on a scale I certainly never thought possible before!  

Over 2020, I’ve been intensely grateful to those organisations providing creative opportunities for artists and communities to work together. The MarketPlace Creative Conversations project in August 2020 was a wonderful example of this. The collaborative poem we produced is something that I am immensely proud of. 

Writing during a pandemic has been tricky at times, especially when the news seems so consistently overwhelming. But I have learnt how to ‘go with the flow’ a little more, and pounce on inspiration when it strikes. I’ve also learnt some brand-new skills, like video editing and production, which has allowed me to explore new ways of working and flexed my creative muscles. 

It’s been a hard year for the creative sector, but I’m grateful to have learnt new skills, participated in exciting projects and connected with so many lovely people. More importantly, I am grateful to all the key workers in the UK, who have ensured that our hospitals, care homes, supermarkets, post offices, healthcare, education services and other vital facilities continued to run through 2020. 

Thank you all.  

Written by poet, Leanne Moden.

Listen to Leanne’s podcast episode here.

Read about Leanne’s More Than Music project here.

Evaluation Case Study: Writing the Landscape

This case study is part of our project evaluation for 2019/2020

Writer Bel Greenwood was commissioned as part of our Creative Conversations in Isolation programme to bring together a group who were interested in creative writing with a landscape and environmental theme. Everyone had to get used to being on Zoom rather than meeting in person, but the group enjoyed getting to know each other and experimenting with their writing guided by Bel. People were finding new connections to their local environment and nature through lockdown, this group were no different, giving them lots to write about. They produced a blog to share their work and have continued to meet and write.

Read the Writing Inspired by the Landscape blog here.

Download the full Writing the Landscape case study here.

Read the full 2019/20 evaluation report here.


An excerpt from the case study:

Recognising an increase in people’s connections to their local environment, this commission was a way to develop interest and community audiences connected to this theme.

Images reads "It's about generating a sense of imaginative connection with the landscape - they have a very strong relationship with the landscape and I want them to generate a successful collection of work. I hope I'm building confidence in people in their own stories and starting them off on an adventure." - Bel Greenwood, writer.
Images reads “It’s about generating a sense of imaginative connection with the landscape – they have a very strong relationship with the landscape and I want them to generate a successful collection of work. I hope I’m building confidence in people in their own stories and starting them off on an adventure.” – Bel Greenwood, writer.

The group had mixed previous writing experience from academic papers and books to one creative writer. Their passion for the natural environment unified the group.

Each workshop consisted of a combination of surprising writing challenges and the opportunity to collaborate and share. As well as the experience of having a professional writer critique and support edits in work produced.

Key outcomes for the group were to improve their skills in writing creatively through their connection to the landscape. Also to support them to increase their confidence in sharing their work publicly.

Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. Facebook: 1191, Participants: 9, Twitter: 4417
Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. Facebook: 1191, Participants: 9, Twitter: 4417
Pictured: A photo of a robin singing. Text on the image reads: "Dear Robin. If I'd only sat up and taken the time to smell the damp earth and appreciated the beauty of my garden instead of considering my work a trial to endure, things could have been different. By Jaqui Fairfax".
Pictured: A photo of a robin singing. Text on the image reads: “Dear Robin. If I’d only sat up and taken the time to smell the damp earth and appreciated the beauty of my garden instead of considering my work a trial to endure, things could have been different. By Jaqui Fairfax”.

Download the full Writing the Landscape case study here.

Read more about the Writing the Landscape project with Bel Greenwood here.

More Than Music with Leanne Moden, Matt Cooper and Louise Eatock

Commissioned as part of our Creative Conversations in Isolation programme.

In a time of people feeling disconnected, Leanne, Matt and Louise wanted to connect people through their passion for music. They offered free online workshops for an evening to talk about live music, concerts, celebrations and the communities we build around our favourite music venues.

Through writing and music-making exercises, the groups shared memories about the ways music has been an integral part of their lives, inspiring them to become musicians or being a part of their everyday experiences.

A a result of the sessions, Leanne and Matt wanted to create a collaborative audio piece that would encapsulate those memories, sounds, words and phrases shared throughout the workshops. Leanne, a poet, wrote a participatory poem and Matt, a musician, created a musical soundscape.

You can listen to the finished audio piece or read Leanne’s poem below.

The conversation continues on the More Than Music Facebook public group. Please feel free to join – we’d love to hear your stories and musical memories.

Leanne was interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk with presenter Jon Wright. Hear them chat about the More Than Music workshops and Leanne and Matt’s collaborative piece here.

More than Music

Back when the chemist sold records,
we knew music was the best medicine.
The natural remedy of melodies played
on record players and tape decks.
Bedrooms and basements bristling
with beats that felt like balm
for messy teenage lives, the storm before the calm.

Back when we held songs in our palms,
we played each cassette until the tape snapped,
mapped our lives through CDs we made ourselves,
filled shelves with every emotion
we couldn’t quite express.
The immeasurable endlessness
of being alive, expressed in four: four time.

We read lyrics like incantations –
confirmation that we were never quite alone –
and we sung every word as if it was our own.
Our best-kept secret bands we shared sparingly,
These earthquake lunchbreak mixtape heartbreaks
reviving us, repairing me.
The words were spells we cast to guide ourselves through,
leading you to me, and me back to you.

And when our local venues sold good times,
we spent Fridays living a better life.
Pressed between bodies, surrounded by noise
our joy magnified by this moment in time.
Sweet sweat and spilt beer, whiskey and lime
and the sense of being sonorous: this new paradigm.
The smoke in our hair, and the bass in our bones;
feeling like we’ve made it, like we’ve finally come home.

There’s more this than music, more than instruments and noise:
it’s empathy and mystery, it’s freedom and it’s choice.
It’s magic and it’s medicine, it’s acceptance and escape,
Integrity and anarchy, on record and on tape.
Community through unity, when we play and when we sing,
There’s more to this than music: and the music’s everything.

Download the poem here

More Than Music by Leanne Moden (26.3 KB)


Image reads "Featured on #ArtOfCovidChat podcast series. Click here to listen."

Listen to Leanne’s podcast episode from the series #ArtOfCovidChat here where she discusses the challenges and triumphs through lockdown with fellow writer Belona Greenwood.