The Turner Contemporary exhibition by Dorothy Cross has proved inspirational for young Margate writers.

They attended a writers’ masterclass at the seaside gallery and used the themes displayed at the popular exhibition to generate images for creative stories and poems.

The students from Hartsdown Academy also visited the Turner and Constable views of nature exhibition for more ideas to support the theme of their writing.

They also explored print and creating headlines about their visit and the exhibits they saw, using only five words.

Steve Bradshaw, the academy’s librarian, said: “It was a valuable experience and the students created thought-provoking writing and interesting and quirky headlines.”

The visit by the students from Years 7, 8 and 9 is part of the academy’s ongoing Word Up literacy campaign and was run in association with Kent Libraries and The Reading Agency.

Contemporary artist Dorothy Cross lives in Connemara, a rural area on Ireland’s wild west coast. She creates sculpture, film and photography that delves into the relationship between living beings and the natural world around them.

Like Turner and Constable before her, Cross’s work is inspired by the natural world. Cross offers strange and unsettling encounters between the body and the environment, creation and destruction, new and old.

Many of her works incorporate items found on the shore, including boats and animal skins. Her exhibition reflects on the unique surroundings of her home, drawing connections to Turner Contemporary’s coastal location in Margate.

The exhibition will tour to the Royal Hiberian Academy, Dublin, after it leaves Turner Contemporary in the new year.