 |
 |
 |
||
|
Short Courses Lucas Arms 245A Gray’s Inn Road Creative Writing in the City Ernst & Young London SE1, UK 15 Oct 08 - 18 Mar 09 This monthly course is open only to employees of Ernst & Young. Workshop Your Fiction • Fall Housmans Bookshop London N1, UK 13 November - 18 Dec 2008
Weekend Courses Starting to Write North London Buddhist Centre 72 Holloway Road 30 - 31 August 2008 Release the Writer in You Dragon Hall 17 Stukeley Street London WC2 4 - 5 October 2008 Playwriting for Beginners Release the Writer in You Dragon Hall 17 Stukeley Street London WC2 15 - 16 November 2008
Courses Abroad Mljet, Croatia June 2009 info to follow
Writing Tips Every writer has literary influences and John Gardner was one of Raymond Carver’s. In an essay “Fires”, he said this about his teacher: “He helped me to see how important it was to say exactly what I wanted to say and nothing else; not to use “literary” words or “pseudo-poetic” language. He’d try to explain to me the difference between saying something like for example, “wing of a meadow lark” and “meadow lark’s wing.” There’s a different sound and feel, Yes? The word “ground” and the word “earth,” for instance. Ground is ground, he’d say, it means ground, dirt, that kind of stuff. But if you say “earth” that’s something else, that word has other ramifications. He taught me to use contractions in my writing. He helped show me how to say what I wanted to say and to use the minimum number of words to do so.” Raymond Carver
|
From January to March 2008 there was a 10-week "So You Want to Write a Novel" course to kick off 2008. So many students wanted to enrol that there will be a 6-week intensive novel writing course offered in October. February and March marked the first playwriting workshop offered by Anne Aylor's Creative Writing Courses. Held over two Sundays, one month apart, "From Novel to Play" helped students to dramatise a short story or novel. Two London courses have been running concurrently from March to May: a 9-week "Creative Writing for Fact or Fiction" at the Helios Centre and an 8-week series of "Workshop Your Fiction" at Housmans Bookshop. The first is for writers wishing to develop work in the classroom and the second for students wanting to receive feedback and constructive criticism on prose written outside class. From October 07 to April 08, "Creative Writing in the City", was held monthly at Ernst & Young. This course was created exclusively for EY employees. Due to its popularity, it will kick-off again in the autumn for another 6-month series of workshops. On the May Day Bank holiday weekend there was an exciting residential course at the Abbey, near Didcot in Oxfordhsire, which was oversubscribed. At the end of the month there was be a non-residential weekend workshop in London, "Finding the Inspiration to Write" (also sold out) which included a half-day surprise field trip that produced some amazing work from course members. In June there was an exciting 8-day course on the Isle of Mljet in Croatia. Students came from as far afield as Dubai and Denmark. It proved so popular that another workshop is currently being planned there for June 2009. In August, a new London weekend course will be offered for those who have never written before. "Starting to Write" will help inspire those who'd like some help to leap into fiction. October will mark the return of one of my most popular courses. Due to the hugely oversubscribed January course, there will be a 6-week "So You Want to Write a Novel Intensive". 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 and November marks the third collaboration with Alternatives, St James' Church, Piccadilly."Release the Writer in You" was sold out in 2006 and 2007. To meet the demand, two 2-day courses will be offered. As the same material will be covered on both weekends, please choose either Course 46 or Course 47. October and November will offer the second playwriting workshop offered by Creative Writing Courses for novice playwrites. This exciting weekend course lead by David Wilson will help you get your Acts together! From November to December, there will be a 6-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.
|
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. 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 short story.
Interview To listen to Anne on Radio London, click here. This interview was broadcast in January 2008 and includes tips on creative writing.
Student News I am delighted to report that two of my students, Hekate Papadaki and Robin Bayley who have recently done a "Workshop Your Fiction" course, were shortlisted by Kingston University Press for a Life-Writing competition. The results were announced in December 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 Naznene Sparrow & Malavika Nataraj won Second and Third Place in the 2007 Wimbledon Book Fest with their short stories, "The Bridge" and "Waiting". Naznene was also one of 7 Honourable Mentions with her poem, "Bowler Hat". Naznene has now done six courses with me and Malavika one. Their stories were recorded on CD as part of the Sandi Toksvig Writing Challenge. There was an awards ceremony on 13 October 2007, 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! Kylie Holmes who was on a Workshop Your Fiction course in 2006,will have her book, Children's Spirit Guides, published by O Books in September 2008. 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 on their great achievements!
Gift Idea ... 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 2008? 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. |
Naznene Sparrow
Malavika Nataraj
