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Our residential courses and workshops in literature and creative writing of all kinds are led by such internationally respected mentors as Mimi Khalvati, Matthew Sweeney, Mark Doty and Judith Barrington. We also offer facilities for your own courses and workshops.
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| 27th March - 3rd April 2010 |
| Pushing Your Poems Further... |
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| Mentor: Tamar Yoseloff |
This course is for poets who feel they can't get beyond the first or second draft and want to explore ways to push their poems further. We will look at techniques for extending or enhancing drafts, with particular attention on automatic writing, form and narrative structure. Participants will be asked to bring poems in progress and a willingness to experiment.
Tamar Yoseloff's poetry collections are Sweetheart (Slow Dancer Press, 1998), which was a PBS Special Commendation and the winner of the Aldeburgh Festival Prize, Barnard’s Star (Enitharmon Press, 2004) and Fetch (Salt, 2007). She is also the author of Marks, a collaborative book with the artist Linda Karshan (Pratt Contemporary Art, 2007) and the editor of A Room to Live In: A Kettle's Yard Anthology (Salt, 2007). She lives in London, where she teaches for The Poetry School. |
| Price: ₤595 |
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| April 24th - May 1st 2010 |
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| Mentor: Judith Barrington |
This course will focus on getting to the heart of your story. This is what Grace Paley called finding "the story under the story" and is the subject of Vivian Gornick's book "The Situation and the Story". It's not enough to simply recount the events; when we write memoir we must struggle to dig deeper, to unearth the elusive truth that needs to emerge from the story unfolding on the page. WE must push ourselves, using retrospection, to find out what we might not yet know. Sometimes it takes getting a nes perspective or a different angle on the tale to discover what can make a memoir truly memorable for both writer and reader - this course is designed to encourage that process.
Judith Barrington is author of 'Life-saving: A memoir which won the 2001 LAMDA book award and she was a finalist fro the PEN/Martha Albrand award for the art of memoir. Also an accomplished and much published poet, she is the leading tutors in the field of memoir. There is limited availability on this course. |
| Price: ₤595 |
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| June 5th - June 12th 2010 |
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| Mentor: John Hartley Williams |
IN VERSE AS IN PROSE there is one basic principle you always have to observe – Keep Moving! From the beat of your lines, or sentences, to stanzas and paragraphs, you need to make sure your motor never idles. So much writing gets bogged down in introspection and description. Think of the way a good movie holds your attention by constantly changing viewpoint as it follows the action.
In many ways one can't make a clearcut distinction between verse and prose, one can only draw a graph line from the the more highly structured and concentrated distillations of verse towards the often more copious and sprawling kinds of writing we tend to label 'prose'.
Stephane Mallarmé said the following: 'Verse is everywhere in language where there is rhythm, everywhere except on posters and page four of the newspaper. In the genre which we call prose there is verse of every conceivable rhythm, some of it admirable. But in reality, there is no prose: there is the alphabet, and then there are verse forms, more or less rigid, more or less diffuse. In every attempt at style there is versification.'
Bearing Mallarme's conception of versification in mind, I propose to look at example of how both prose writers and poets keep their works moving along and suggest what strategies you might adopt to get your writing into gear. Whether you write poems, short stories, or even longer fiction, I'm confident you'll find some useful strategies and inspirations in this course.
JOHN HARTLEY WILLIAMS has published 9 collections of startling, arousing and occasionally amazing poetry. 2 collections have been short-listed for the TS Eliot. His latest, a quite fascinating work is ‘The Ship which, apart from many treasures includes an ode to Valencian paella. With Matthew Sweeney he wrote ‘Teach Yourself Writing Poetry’ one of the best manuals available.(New edition shortly) Since 1976 he has taught at the Free University of Berlin as well as published numerous reviews, memoirs and prose works.
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| Price: ₤595 |
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| 19th June to 26th June 2010 |
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| Mentor: James Byrne |
Having firmly established itself as ‘London’s most innovative poetry workshop’, James Byrne offers his editorial ear for poets who are looking to expand their publication record and make the next step towards a full/new collection. Combining regular discussions on creative practice and daily, specifically tailored exercises for all participants, James will be looking extend the poetic range of all through careful attention to areas such as form, style, subject matter, risk and control.
He will approach the sessions from an editor’s perspective and will be offering extensive advice on how to prepare submissions for publication, and where to send them, in both Europe and America. In addition to group meetings, James will also have one-to-one sessions. Each individual will benefit from James’ seven years of experience as a poetry editor, whilst also preparing new poems and typescripts for publication. All participants are expected to bring 10-12 previously written poems for their ‘consultation’, however the emphasis will also be on creating new work for publication. These new poems will be considered alongside each poets’ existing oeuvre. Walks in the local area of Relleu will be a regular part of ‘harvesting’ ideas for poems that will be written during the week. Critical readings of contemporary poets will be required on a regular basis. And towards the end of the workshops, James will also host a recitation/performance of poems, which will accompany a detailed workshop on how to ‘deliver’ a poem for an audience.
Since 2006 all of James’ workshop participants have received further publications in magazines. And many attendees have gone on to publish pamphlets and new collections. The Wolf Workshop in Almassera Vella will be dedicated to this outcome.
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| Price: ₤595 |
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| 28th August - 4th September 2010 |
| Poetry with Mimi Khalvati |
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| Mentor: Mimi Khalvati |
| The much acclaimed Mimi Khalvati returns to run another thrilling , instructive and inspiring week of poetry. Book early - there was a long waiting list in 2009! |
| Price: ₤595 |
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