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Short Courses Housmans Bookshop You Don't Have to Be a Writer! The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street 21 October 2009 This commissioned workshop is open only to members of LJ.
Weekend Courses Write Now! in Ireland Tigh Roy Cultural Centre Galbally, Co Tipperary 31 July - 2 August 2009 Write A Novel Intensive Lucas Arms 245A Gray’s Inn Road Release the Writer in You Playwriting for Beginners Release the Writer in You Workshop Your Play• Autumn Housmans Bookshop Tutor: David Wilson
Courses Abroad Tigh Roy Cultural Centre Galbally, Co Tipperary 31 July - 2 August 2009 Creative Writing in New Mexico Good Samaritan Social Center Las Cruces, NM, USA 12 - 13 September 2009
From January to March there was e a 10-week "So You Want to Write a Novel" course to kick off the New Year. February marks the launch of a brand new course, "Learn to Edit Intensive". This hands-on 2-day workshop will help you see your own work with new eyes. Increasingly, publishing houses refuse manuscripts that are not perfect so this is an invaluable opportunity to start to learn to judge your own fiction subjectively. Two London courses ran concurrently from March to April / May: a 9-week "Creative Writing for Fact or Fiction" at the Helios Centre and a 7-week "Workshop Your Fiction" at Housmans Bookshop. The first was for writers wishing to develop new work in the classroom and the second for students wanting to receive feedback and constructive criticism on prose written outside class. April & May offers the chance to do "Playwriting for Beginners", a practical course to learn the fundamentals of this exciting form. This weekend workshop will be led by David Wilson. On the second weekend in May there was a residential course at the Abbey, near Didcot in Oxfordshire. It's a highlight on the teaching calendar. Don't miss it next year. At the end of May a London weekend course, "Starting to Write", was offered for those who have never written before. It gave them the opportunity to get their pens going and flowing. On the cusp of July & August there will be a residential retreat at Tigh Roy, a spectacular location in Co Tipperary. "Write Now! in Ireland" offers two daily workshops, hillwalking and fabulous food. In September there will be a 2-day course in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for beginners and experienced writers. This marks Anne's first creatuve writing workshop in the US. Due to a hugely oversubscribed January course, there will be a 3-day "So You Want to Write a Novel Intensive" in October. Over three Sundays we will be covering material normally studied over 6 weeks. If you've ever dreamt of writing a book and are not sure how to go about it, this could be just the course to successfully send you on your way. October & November will mark the fourth collaboration with Alternatives, St James' Church, Piccadilly."Release the Writer in You" was sold out in 2006, 2007 and 2008. For those who missed the April course, "Playwriting for Beginners" will be repeated in October & November at Bookmarks Bookshop in London. For those who missed the April course, "Playwriting for Beginners" will be repeated in October & November at Bookmarks in London. Due to student demand, a "Workshop Your Play" will be offered in late November for those who want help developing their plays-in-progress. From November to December, there will be an 8-week autumn course, "Workshop Your Fiction", for students wanting continued help and feedback on their novels, short stories and creative non-fiction. Watch this space for more course news.
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For a thumbnail description of courses offered this year, scroll down Column 1.
Wondering what special gift you might give to someone who writes or wants to? Why not give a place on one of the 12 writing courses on offer in 2009? There are a wide variety of workshops for all levels of ability, from beginners to published authors. More and more, courses are being gifted and none of the lucky recipients has complained yet! Go to the Gift Certifcates page to see what you need to do to delight that special writer in your life.
This is the state flag of New Mexico. The ancient Zia sun sign symbolises the Land of Enchantment and is here because September will mark the first time Anne will be leading a writing workshop in the United States. She will be teaching a 2-day course in Las Cruces, NM. Day 1 will be devoted to creating new work and Day 2 wil be exploring the craft of writing. To find out more, click here.
Ernst & Young This marked the second year of "Creative Writing in the City" at Ernst & Young. This 7-month course meets monthly and welcomes new members from within the organisation. The idea for the course came from a PA in the firm, Lavinia Osborne-Njoda, who wanted to share the joy and self-discovery of writing with her co-workers. This course has now ended, but will restart in the autumn. If you're interested for more details, click here. If your oganisation is interested in hosting a course in the City of London, click here to contact the Administrator for more info.. Photo: Steve Mullins
Here are 2 exciting new books. CB Editions is an imprint that chooses imaginative, electic manuscripts. The TV President by Elise Valmorbida starts with a re-enactment of the 1963 Dallas motorcade for a reality TV show. One JFK lookalike is killed and another injured. The unhinged widow and the wounded survivor, both disguised in burqahs, drive from Dallas to Detroit to hear a murderer’s confession. Colossal brands, religious forces and infotainment wreak havoc with the truth when viewers and voters are promised the greatest election ever seen. Part mystery, part road-movie, this novel offers a wholly original and blackly funny switchback ride. This is an exciting new book which deserves to be a cult hit. To order, click here.
In Celebration of Cecil Collins is a compilation of reminiscences by almost 100 contributors, including colleagues, friends, curators and collectors of this visionary artist and teacher whose birth centenary is this year. This book. edited by Nomi Rowe, is fully illustrated in colour and is available at the extremely reasonable price of £30. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the creative process. This FoolsCap art book is distributed by Paul Holberton Publishing. To order, click here.
n 1934, a young writer named Arnold Samuelson spent a year in Cuba with Ernest Hemingway working on his boat, the Pilar, picking his brains about writing. This is from Samuelson's book, With Hemingway: A Year in Key West and Cuba. is bad? EH: Something inside you tells you that. If it’s on the borderline, you might have to show it to someone else, but you can usually tell. You know, my first trouble was that I tried to stick in too many fancy words. That’s the trouble with so many. Big-time writing never changes. Pick your vocabulary from the words you hear people speak in conversation. They have stood the test of centuries. The simple words are always the best.
“It really comes down to this: indifference to everything except that piece of paper in the typewriter.” Raymond Carver
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Anne Aylor is a professional writer who has had short stories and poems published by the Arts Council of Great Britain, The Literary Review, London Magazine and Stand Magazine. In addition to being a runner-up in a Radio 3 competition, a number of her stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio. In 2008 she was shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. Her novel, No Angel Hotel, was published by HarperCollins, Grafton Books and St Martin’s Press (US title: Angel Hotel). She has recently completed her second novel, The Double Happiness Company, and is 80,000 words into her third. Her stage play, Children of the Dust, won a playwrighting competition and was co-produced by the Soho Theatre and Theatre Warehouse, Croydon. She worked in post-war Bosnia where she practised Chinese medicine and taught ballet. She teaches at Morley College in London. In 2007 she was a shortlist judge for the story competition held by the Wimbledon Book Fest. If you'd like to see a sample of her work, click here for a 500-word short story.
In November 2008 I received news that my short story, "The Speed of Dark", was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize 2008. As there were over 10,000 entries of poems and short stories this year, I feel very honoured. Helen Simpson and David Harsent were this year's judges. To read the story which is an extract from my novel-in-progress, The Beekeeper, click here.
To listen to Anne on Radio London, click here. This interview was broadcast in January 2008 and includes tips on creative writing.
Robin Bayley has both an agent and a publisher for the book he workshopped in my courses over the past few years. The Mango Orchard will be published by Preface, a division of Random House, in Spring 2010. A high five and congratulations to Robin who asked me to post this: "When I first met Anne I had a great story, but I didn't have a book. If it weren't for Anne's wisdom, insight, belief and patience, the book might never have been finished, and it certainly I would not have been accepted for publication." To read more about Robin's book, click here. Beatrice Sudsbury who was on several "Workshop Your Fiction" courses and "Learn to Edit Intensive" recently entered her book, A Half Cast Shadow, for the Novel Pitch Competition run by Spread the Word. There were over 200 submissions. In the words of the programme coordinator, Beatrice "did extremely well to make it to the final 16." Kylie Holmes who was on a "Learn to Edit Intensive" and a fiction workshop course, will have her first book, Intuitive Children, published in February 2009. I'm also thrilled to report that she has signed a 3-book contract with O Books. I'm delighted to announce that Nomi Rowe who has studied with me 1-2-1 has had her first book, In Celebration of Cecil Collins, published by FoolsCap. This inspiring book of reminiscences about the visionary artist and teacher, Cecil Collins, is a must for every bookshelf. This is Collins' birth centenary year which will be celebrated not only with this release of this book, but also with a room show at Tate Britain. Don't miss either. Peter Lambrou who did a "Workshop Your Fiction" and "So You Want to Write a Novel" course is having his first book, Topavzian, published in 2009. This is a huge achievement and a big congratulations to him. Topavzian, which means "topaz" in ancient Greek, will be available from Raider Publishing International. Watch this space for more details. The Coast to Coast Writing Competition (held as part of the Liverpool Year of Culture) was won in October 2008 by Jennifer Pittam who's just completed a "So You Want to Write a Novel" course and is workshopping her manuscript in another course. She's entered competitions before, but this is her first win so a big congratulations to her for her short story, "I Remember Very Well". Hekate Papadaki and Robin Bayley who have done my "So You Want to Write a Novel" and several of my "Workshop Your Fiction" courses, were shortlisted by Kingston University Press for a Life-Writing competition. The results were announced in December 2007 and Hekate placed in the Top Ten. Judges included Hanif Kureishi, Kathryn Hughes and Rachel Cusk. Congratulations to them both on their huge achievement. There was stiff competition and a large number of entries. In October 2007 Naznene Sparrow & Malavika Nataraj won Second and Third Place in the Wimbledon Book Fest with their short stories, "The Bridge" and "Waiting". Naznene was also one of 7 Honourable Mentions with her poem, "Bowler Hat".
Their stories were recorded on CD as part of the Sandi Toksvig Writing Challenge. There was an awards ceremony, followed by a panel discussion with Mary Mount, Editorial Director of Viking Penguin and Peter Straus, literary agent at Rogers, Coleridge & White. A huge congratulations to them on their success! Tom Hill, who was on a Helios 2006 course, had his play, The Fox, produced in the "No Decor Plays 2007" series at the Arcola Theatre, London. A big congratulations to them all on their great achievements!
If you want to know more about Anne Aylor Creative Writing Courses, click here. "Spread the Word" is an archive events and collaborations page. Check it out!
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Naznene Sparrow
