POETRY, plus homemade cake, was a winning formula at Lucy Crispin's Life, Loss and Literature workshops in spring at Dove Cottage.

Following that success, the Kendal poet and purveyor of fine prose, is putting together more workshops and groups designed to get people exploring poetry, and sharing their own experiences: “I felt privileged to work with an amazing group of people at the Dove Cottage workshops, and I'm very excited to have more of these events coming up,” says Lucy.

Her own independent project, the 42 group, starts its programme of monthly meetings at Kendal's Castle Street Community Centre on Wednesday, September 14 (7pm-9pm).

The subject is simply - Together.

The name of Lucy's 42 group stems from The Hitchhiker’s Guide series: "Douglas Adams described how a race of aliens built a supercomputer to work out the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything," explains Lucy. "They were pretty deflated when, after years of processing, the computer revealed the answer to be - 42! But then they realised they needed to build another computer, to work out what the Ultimate Question might be. And that computer was a small blue-green planet called Earth.

Lucy points out that in essence, the 42 group, is all about not being on our own with "stuff" - both the good and the bad: "It’s a friendly, informal gathering where we can reflect on the big stuff - the things that matter to us all. Because poetry has such an extraordinary power to touch, comfort, challenge and inspire us, it’s a great way into talking, thinking and sharing with others. But it’s not a book group, or a therapy group. There's no 'homework' or set reading, and you don't need to know anything about poetry to come along. All you need is a sense of interest and enquiry. There’ll be warmth, and welcome - and, of course, cake.”

Lucy - a qualified counsellor and former South Cumbria Poet Laureate - returns to William Wordsworth's Grasmere home to facilitate two more courses.

The first, running at Dove Cottage from September to December, is What Wordsworth knew: words, wisdom and the art of living well. "It’s a space to consider what really matters in life, and explore how poetry can help us make sense of things," describes Lucy. "We’ll read a selection of the Wordsworths' writings, and those of other authors, and consider some of the central concerns we all have as humans.”

The first session, on September 11, is People: friends and family; subsequent sessions will explore Place: home and community, Work: occupation and identity, and Meaning: what really matters?. This course will be co-facilitated with the senior guide at Dove Cottage, Hazel Clarke.

The second course, Making the world go round: an exploration of passions, pains and poetry, is all about love, and starts in January 2017.

For further details of all the events, go to www.lakescounselling.co.uk. For more about the courses, and to book, go to the Wordsworth Trust website. Or contact Lucy on 01539-727295.