Margot Henderson
Home address:
Rosemary Cottage, 206 Findhorn, Moray, IV36 3YS, ScotlandTelephone:
01309-691182Email:
storytree@hotmail.comBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesBiography:
I have been writing ever since I was wee…poems and stories, plays for my pals that we performed in my back garden, all dressed up in our mothers’ frocks, charging the neighbours 3d a ticket to see what they could see perfectly well over the fence while they were hanging out the washing or having a blether. But they came anyway. Bless them.
Then there were the angst ridden poems of my teenage years, written in the local graveyard, in the street, in my bedroom or on the bus. The impromptu readings at Friday night record sessions with my pals (who thought poetry was just plain weird but put up with me anyway) in between playing the Beatles Double White and Free ‘Fire and Water’, the only two albums we owned between us in those days.
Then there was the Big World, Big City, as the bright lights of London beckoned; a cross- cultural dream with Community Theatre, Creative Writing groups and the Performance Poetry circuit.
A playwright friend gave me my stage name, ‘Bridgit Bard’, which helped me get out there and slam and jam with the best of them. Playing the poetry game with Apples and Snakes, coming up in the world and upping the stakes - up the ladders and down the snakes.
Then there was going ‘Free Lance’ as a poet, holding writing workshops and performances, creating Storytelling theatre pieces and themed Bardy Nights in various London venues, setting up The Storytelling Tree for the Corporation of London and being let loose in the Tate Gallery as an Artist Educator, writing, performing and leading workshops.
Then off into ‘The Wood Between The Worlds’ with Coral Arts Theatre Company, creating magical environmental theatre pieces in wild and wonderful settings in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire with whole villages and a team of wonderful artists.
Then, over time, feeling the pull to come back to Scotland to live, write and work here in similar and in new ways. Having the Universal Hall in Findhorn to perform in, composing songs with pianist Susanne Olbrich
Finding new inspirations in nature and in Buddhist mindfulness meditation practice. Going on various pilgrimages and retreats and writing, writing…
About writer's work:
I am a poet and storyteller of Scots-Irish origins. My background is in Community Education. I have trained in Integrative Arts and Ritual Theatre. I have been working as a community artist, writer and performer for the last 15 years or so. Since returning to Scotland 5 years ago I have worked on a wide range of commissions and residencies, with diverse groups and organisations such as HI-Arts, SNH, LAPIDUS, The Forestry Commission and many local authorities and arts trusts.
I create and facilitate writing in a variety of venues including schools, hospitals, galleries, theatres, museums and woodlands, devising site-specific arts and interpretation projects with cross- art forms and community collaboration.
I produce original, creative work of a high quality in a range of
literary forms: poetry, stories, songs, monologues and theatre pieces for both adults and children.
About writer's events and projects:
My work on residencies, often centres around the telling, gathering and documenting of stories and the creation of anthologies. Sometimes the writing forms the source material for film projections, sound installations, recordings and performances. I create work for both adults and children. Many projects are cross generational, using story, poetry and the performing arts to bring older and younger people together in ways that are mutually satisfying, stimulating and beneficial. Much of my own writing is influenced by engaged mindfulness practice and deep ecology, expressing and enhancing the felt sense of nature, place, community, and our interconnectedness with all of life.
In 2005-6 I was joint storytelling Fellow for Aberdeen.
In 2207 I received a sac Bursary as Artistic Director of Shoreline a Community Festival for Highland Arts 2007
In 2007-8 I was Writer in Residence for Cromarty on the ‘Freedom Come all Ye’Project. A collection of my work will be published by the Cromarty Arts Trust later this year.
Links to other websites:
www.coralats.org.ukwww.bodysurfscotland.org.uk/shoreline
www.findhorn.org.uk/conference/celebration
www.spanglefish.com/freedomcomeallye
www.barbican.org.uk/canihaveaword
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
0-4, 5-8, 9-12, Teens, Adults