No ideas but in things is a hands‑on poetry workshop with Emily Wills that invites you to explore the stories held in objects, places and the textures of everyday life. Working with artefacts, fragments, and details from our local landscape, we’ll use the museum’s collections and our own personal histories as starting points for our writing.

Together, we’ll look closely at the things we carry, the things we inherit, and the things that anchor us to Stroud and its surrounding valleys. Through guided exercises, gentle prompts and shared discussion, you’ll learn how to transform these materials into poems that are intimate and expansive.

This workshop welcomes everyone: whether you’re completely new to writing or already developing your poetic practice. All you need is curiosity, a willingness to look closely, and an openness to what the things around you might be trying to say.

Emily Wills is an experienced poetry tutor and facilitator, having run workshops at The Arvon Foundation and at various health and community venues. She was poet in residence at Gloucester crematorium as part of a collaborative project, Written in Stone. Her latest collection, The Overview Effect, was published this year by Pindrop Press, and she has two collections and a pamphlet published by Rialto. Following a career as a local GP, she now works as a facilitator in Restorative Justice.

Tickets cost 15, advance booking essential. Please book via the Poetry Festival website.

This workshop takes place in the Museum’s Collectors’ Room, one of our display rooms full of fascinating things. No food or drink is allowed here, to help keep our Collections safe. Ticket holders can claim a complimentary tea or coffee, after the workshop, from the Museum’s Mini Foyer Café.