Sarah Acton writer, landscapes and seascapes socially engaged arts project designer and facilitator.

If you’d like to commission a project, book or script, I love to collaborate please get in touch: blackvenpress@gmail.com

from participants

I thank you Sarah for giving me the confidence to call myself a writer.

Thank you for the lovely workshop last Saturday. You have a real gift for drawing creativity out of people and helping them focus it. I always love your workshops.

Thank you Sarah for such an amazing and inspiring experience. The retreat surpassed all my expectations. It was a very special time and place, one that enabled me to move forwards in my exploration of opening up my creative side, to start to trust and see what happens.

You have a unique way of working and the combination of nurture and nature to release the creative word was successful and deeply appreciated.
Your words and thoughts and your curious and supportive style really supported this process with a light touch and a thoughtful mind.

Sarah was exceptional, patient and kind providing us with lots of lyrical opportunities to create and share in a supportive and joyful atmosphere.

Many thanks for yesterday’s poetry workshop. It was well organised and very enjoyable, and it far exceeded my expectations.

Amazing how much you fitted into two hours and so nourishing and inspiring – I loved it!

Skillful as a Blacksmith at the fire of inspiration, beautifully grounded and utterly inspiring, thank you!

My first poetry walk, the feeling was so different from listening indoors and gave me further knowledge about the coastline.

This walk stretched my imagination and made me think about nature and words.

A wonderful experience.

From partners:

The pleasure was all ours I can assure you.  Like rain and frost polishing rocks and cliffs, your judicious exercises got through our  uncertainties and generalities; they enabled the group to reach deeper and bring back well observed snapshots, unexpected correlations, playful combinations which culminated in strong, moving, authentic poems – all this in one morning only! (Teacher, Exeter College)

Working with Sarah in the memory cafes was a wonderful experience- she is able to get everyone involved in creating a poem together, despite some of the group members being self-conscious. Sarah has a gentle and calm manner which made the atmosphere welcoming and people feel comfortable to share memories and ask questions. She shares poems they know from childhood and many group members joined in with the famous lines and enjoyed the reminiscence of this.

I feel the group members get a lot from the experience and Sarah has given carers ideas of simple activities they could do at home around words and poems.

All the service users, volunteers and staff involved, had a wonderful time at Sarah’s poetry sessions and the feedback was 100% positive. We would all welcome her to join us again and visit all the other Dorset Memory Cafes.

Today, on National Poetry Day, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve embarked on using the power of poetry to connect with nature. Writing poetry may seem like a daunting task, but through this project, we’ve discovered that with gentle prompts and an open mind, anyone can be a writer. The process of writing can even be incredibly restful and reflective. None of this would have been possible without the guidance and inspiration of the remarkable Sarah Acton, a poet and creative facilitator, who has partnered with us on this project for the past 5 years. Sarah Acton (Black Ven Poetry) has been instrumental in helping us achieve our goals and has left an indelible impact on our Dorset community. On this special day, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to her for her unwavering support and dedication. (Stepping into Nature, Dorset AONB 2023)

Lots of joyful Alzheimer’s Memory Cafes