How studying at Dartington changed me

by | Aug 30, 2023

Students on the MA Poetics of Imagination course explore a variety of media through which to tell stories.   Isabella Jones made a short film about the impact the course and the place itself have had on her

View of the Hermitage of Santa Eulalia d’Alendo from the Centre d’Art i Natura, Farrera, Catalan Pyrenees.

Isabella Jones, a student on MA Poetics of Imagination, who has been studying a myth connected to Llyn y Fan Fach, a lake in the Brecon Beacons.

Isabella describes her time studying at Dartington as one of the most enriching of her life.  She writes;

“After studying Design at Goldsmiths University, lockdown started and I returned to the role of an unpaid Carer- creativity seemed a far-away dream. Then one day sitting by a lockdown fire, I remembered how imagination could carry me anywhere. It was then that I discovered the MA ‘Poetics of Imagination’ at ‘Dartington Arts School’; an alchemical submersion into the realms of mythology and story, that would light a new fire under my practice.

This year at Dartington has been the most enriching experience of my life- with simmering lectures and creative endeavours that have allowed me to grow in ways I could never have imagined.

The low-residency model meant that the sphere of Dartington and that of my home became mutually enriched. This cross-pollination is what makes this MA so relevant to current issues, reaching into the mythological pool that is Dartington’s teaching and then carrying elements of it out into the world- as a student I became an emissary for the imagination.

In my professional life, I aim to direct films and a non-profit that will aid unpaid Carers, balancing my career between creative expression and responses to social issues.

The experience gained from this MA has become a foundation for my career, not only expanding my knowledge but also connecting me to an engaged network of creative people. I have been gifted a lifetime’s worth of stories that will continue to work with me and inspire my practice for years to come.”

MA Poetics of Imagination

The Poetics of Imagination course explores orality, story and culture, examining how humans have conjured stories from the earliest times to the present day.

The course provides a wide sweep through the arc of human history.  From physically tracking folktales across the wilds of Dartmoor to three-day tellings of myths that form much of the crucible of modernity.

Why is that when humans allow themselves to imagine, that imagination takes the form of story?What stories are trying to be told right now?  

Here are some reflections on the experience of the course.

Life as as student at Dartington

MA Poetics of Imagination

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