Poet wannabe Marc West finds his verse remains more Spike Milligan than Andrew Motion after a workshop

Poetry, they say, is food for the soul. If this be so I’m prepared to commit the deadly sin of gluttony to fill my boots with the joy of text.

As a journalist, words are the building blocks of my creativity.

But never before have I had to justify so closely the use of every single one… until now.

In all honesty, I don’t know my haiku from my elbow, and all previous attempts at such word-smithing have only reached the level of “cat, sat, mat”. But I was determined to channel my inner Wordsworth once and for all.

My initial reaction was a childlike temptation to try and hide at the back the class.

But, this small and friendly group were so thoughtful and engaging I soon found myself getting drawn further and further into their stimulating conversation.

Plus, I must admit, the lure of endless tea and biscuits really did help – if only to get the creative juices really flowing, of course.

“These workshops have been made possible by the kind funding of the Heritage Lottery,” says education officer Penny Boxall.

“This has enabled us to make the history of this church accessible to the wider public in an exciting and engaging way.”

And Penny’s right; just being in the wonderful surroundings of the Old Library at St Mary’s really is inspiration enough – a place dating back centuries for the transmission of ideas from past to the present.

It’s also especially apt to know that the great man we’re gathered here to honour is buried right beneath our feet.

The life and legacy of John Radcliffe is the theme of this week’s workshop – which aims to examine the relationship between science and poetry.

As a group we discuss works by established writers in an attempt to untangle the words from one another and, hopefully, decode the hidden meanings within.

Then, using a Zodiacal illustration from 1702 as our stimuli, we all have 15 minutes to create our own composition – placing a human at the centre of the scientific landscape. The pressure was on.

While I tried to draw from the likes of the dark visionary Lord Bryon, my attempt ended up being more along the lines of Spike Milligan’s comic epitaph.

Not to worry, as the whole point of these informal gatherings is to come along and see where this journey will take you – whether you’re a fan of history or poetry (or both), write regularly or are completely new to it.

All you need is a notebook and pen. Oh, and a good sense of humour might help too!

While I’m pretty sure I won’t be winning any competitions for my efforts any time soon, you actually can, as original and unpublished entries are currently being invited for Poems For Queen Bess.

In 1566 Queen Elizabeth I made a memorable trip to Oxford, where she was greeted by a rich pageant of music, disputations and parades.

On May 23 the University Church will celebrate this visit and shortlisted entries will be displayed on the walls of St Mary’s – as they were in Elizabethan times.

Visit universitychurch.ox.ac.uk