Rachel McCrum
Literary
Contact Info
Email address
Website address
Resides in
English Montreal
Social Media
Experience working with
Student In
- Cycle 3 Elementary
- Secondary 1 & 2
- Secondary 3 & 4
- Secondary 5
- CEGEP
I regularly explore the following Broad Areas of Learning/Themes in my work
- Health and Wellbeing
- Personal and Career Planning
- Citizenship and Community Life (Identity & Belonging)
I've received CHSSN Mental Health Initiative training for:
- Youth
Listed in the Quebec Culture in the Schools Repertoire
- No
I have experience working with
- Quebec Writers’ Federation’s Writers in the Communities Program
- Poetry In Voice/Vallum Society for Education and Arts
I can facilitate virtual creative experiences
- Yes
Travel
- I am available for travel within the same day
- I am available for travel overnight
- An extended residency is an option
Other ELAN ArtEd Links
Stories and News:- Beyond Virtual: Workshops that carry on after the screen turn off
- ArtistsInspire’s Realignment and Transformation: Responding to Arts Education Needs During Social Distancing
- Stories & News: Fostering Resilience Through Art-Making
Rachel McCrum is a poet and performer, originally from Northern Ireland, coming to Quebec via Edinburgh, Scotland.
'‘...she salivates and slavers, at times stretching language almost to breaking point, stuffing it full till it’s almost spilling through the slits in meaning...this is poetry that performs itself on the page out loud and proud – then can turn on a sixpence and stop the heart with a sudden, spare moment of naked vulnerability and tenderness.’ (Liz Lochhead, Scottish makar)
'‘...she salivates and slavers, at times stretching language almost to breaking point, stuffing it full till it’s almost spilling through the slits in meaning...this is poetry that performs itself on the page out loud and proud – then can turn on a sixpence and stop the heart with a sudden, spare moment of naked vulnerability and tenderness.’ (Liz Lochhead, Scottish makar)
Creative Approach and Experiences Offered
My workshops tend to be a mix of unabashed energy and encouragement coupled with specific exercises in craft which allow us to ‘remove for a while the responsibility of writing poems’ (Mary Oliver), aimed at easing participants out of self-consciousness and to open up a gentler space for reflection, empathy, exploration, and mutual support. The aim is always for participants to leave the session with a new set of tools to express themselves and to play with language, feeling exhilarated, open, daring, and proud of themselves. My approach, for any age group, is grounded in the idea that writing a poem grants space and time to say the things that we do not permit ourselves to say in ‘normal’ life. To think about our own personal authenticity in the world, and to take the chance to write and speak for ourselves, apart from scene and herd. Workshops might include exercises in surrealist poetry play; a deep dive into metaphor; using figurative language to discover our tone and voice...Video
'I Lost My Shoes On Rachel Street'. Poetry & Voice: Rachel McCrum. Film: Genevieve Gosselin-G & Jonathan Lamy.