WORKSHOPS & COURSES
I have been running workshops in the spoken and written word for 10 years: 5 years at the University of Bath and 5 for the Open University. I offer workshops in creative writing and performance skills (storytelling, poetry) to all ages. Currently teaching A174 Start Writing Fiction; A215 Creative Writing; & A363 Advanced Creative Writing for the Open University. I also run weekly writing classes in the Bath area and co-run the Bath Writers' Workshop
Courses & Workshops:
Alternatives, London; Imperial College, London; Gaunts House Summer Gathering: Wessex Gathering: MBS Show, London Olympia; Treadwells Bookshop, Covent Garden; Swindon Youth Arts Week; Bristol Cathedral School: Churchdown, School, Glos; BREAZ, Bristol; Swindon Youth Arts Week; Italian TEFL Students, NE Italy; MIND, Bath: BEMSCA, Bath; Community Learning Service; Norton Radstock College; Teachers' INSET, Glos and Wilts; B&NES Playworkers; UEA...
SKYROS WRITERS’ LAB
with Kevan Manwaring
29 AUG – 11 SEP 2010
WK 1. WRITING POETRY – THE GRIT IN THE OYSTER
Poetry is the foundation of all good writing – at its best it is the most efficient and effecting form of written communication. Whether you are an aspiring poet, novelist or non-fiction writer, your writing will benefit from learning the discipline, precision and power of poetry. Writing from the heart, via accessible and engaging activities, you’ll bypass any technical anxieties to create poetry with passion. Over the week we’ll work with personal ‘grits in the oyster’ – experiences, insights, snapshots of time – to create ‘pearls’ to be proud of. Stunning setting and sensual experiences will provide inspiration – with senses fully alive, you’ll fill your well of poetry to the brim and share its contents in supportive and constructive workshop sessions.
WK 2. LIFE: FICTION – TRANSFORMING THE PERSONAL INTO THE PUBLISHABLE
Upgrade your fiction in this week exploring the possibilities of autobiographical material in short story and novel-writing. Whatever genre you are working in, this approach will give your writing greater authenticity and emotional depth. How far you fictionalise is up to you – but by drawing on life experience, you are giving yourself a head start. With life as research, nothing is wasted. Even the most painful of experiences can be redeemed by writing – and others can benefit from hard-won lessons. How much you wish to disclose is up to you – all will be transformed through the lens of fiction, affording the personal and the private a degree of protection. Looking at character, setting, dialogue, plot, point of view, themes and tone in the light of our own ‘personal research database’ will enrich them all – transforming your writing into something resonant and distinctive.
FFI http://www.skyros.com/writers_lab.htm
