A Drama in Time Learning Resource

A Drama in Time is a visual poetry resource by poet and performer Courtney Stoddart that I have designed with Holly Yeoman of the community engagement team at Edinburgh Art Festival. Courtney Stoddart has created a series of creative writing activities to help secondary school pupils explore the lesser discussed parts of renowned poet Robert Burns’ life and to use their understanding of Edinburgh and thoughts on their identity to imagine the future, by creating a visual poem. 

The activities have been inspired by Graham Fagen’s artwork A Drama in Time, and the quote the artwork takes its title from, by Edinburgh city planner Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) – “a city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time”. The artwork and its title invite us to think of the people, sites and events which create the city’s sense of place: past, present, and future.

Available as a download, the PDF has been designed in a landscape format so that it can be printed and also be displayed by teachers on a smartboard as prompts with pupils writing/drawing on paper or jotters.  

 

The resource can be downloaded here.

More information about the resource here.

Holly Yeoman, Community Engagement Manager, Edinburgh Art Festival: I have been working with James since 2020 to develop Edinburgh Art Festival’s DIY Art home creativity kit series, which through their strong identity, visual appeal and easy-to-use format, designed by James, have supported us to introduce artist’s practice and process to audiences, helping us to maintain and grow our audience through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. I always look forward to working with James.