facilitator

Event Maker

I have produced poetry readings, poetry tours, multimedia exhibits and small literature festivals.

In 2012 and 2013 I produced, marketed and managed two tours for Arc Publications.

In 2012 the tour comprised seven international poets (from Iceland, Turkey, Burma, Punjab, Armenia and Brazil) visiting 29 venues for readings, discussions and workshops on translation.

In 2013 the tour took 12 poets (four from the UK, others from Sri Lanka, Serbia, Germany, New Zealand, Armenia and Catalonia) and two translators around 34 venues giving readings, workshops and discussions.

Before working with international poets I orchestrated smaller tours for North West writers featured in the Flax publications.

And before that I worked for Calderdale Libraries as their poet in residence where I orchestrated, alongside the Reader in Residence two mini festivals.

Before that I skated the freelance world and made events to suit whatever project I was involved in

Editor

I was editor of Flax, Lancaster Literature Festival’s publishing imprint from 2006-2011.

Alongside designer Martin Chester and then Anat Kaivanto, we produced 29 publications that ranged from pdf pamphlets of poetry and prose, illustrated posters, ebooks, films and walking tours. We launched all the publications in one way or another, celebrating the coming together of great quality work.

A sample of our work is below. You can see more on the Flax page of ISSUU

Walking in Circles – poetry walks

Seed Haiku
Another collaboration with Maya Chowdhry
http://vimeo.com/25316376

I continue to edit anthologies created in workshops and with fellow writers.

Most recently, Solstice, with Rebecca Bilkau.
An anthology of hours. Twenty four poems clocking the twenty four hours of the longest day in 2012. This ‘hinge’ of the year is tracked by transience, evident in the views of street lamps, hedgerows, cafes, the rising light, swallows, rain, and ultimately the growing dark, its rituals, noises, pathways disappearing ahead.

Poems from Helen Ivory, Andrew McMillan, Wayne Burrows, Jane Routh, Seni Seniviratne, Maya Chowdhry, David Tait and many more.

Coach

My coaching practice spans years of coaching writers, artists and other creative practitioners, alongside a lifetime commitment to my own creative work. I offer safe, curious spaces that value the reach of our imaginations. Working online or in person, I’m known for my integrity, diligence and responsiveness, and seek to encourage an expansive sense of individual potential. I provide an relational and embodied inquiry that allows for open thinking and self-care.

As an ordained Buddhist practitioner and certified coach, I hold grounded, compassionate spaces for reflection, clarity, and creativity. Drawing on deep listening, Nonviolent Communication, and the principles of permaculture design, I work within the intersections of personal, social and environmental ecologies. This lens enables clients to reconnect with their values and needs, and to navigate decisions with confidence and authenticity. My practice focuses on cultivating generative and sustainable habits for well-being.

My approach is grounded in trust: in intuition, embodied wisdom, and the unfolding of process. I’m interested in patterns of thought, and the perceptions and feelings that shape our choices and direction in life. As a writer-collaborator, I recognise the power of words and silence to bring insight and transformation. Through gentle challenge, my sessions are places in which to uncover fresh perspectives, articulate what matters, and reconnect with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility.

I am holistic and intuitive – weaving mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and systems thinking to support personal and professional transformation. I work with chosen and unexpected transitions.

With over thirty years of experience facilitating creative spaces across the community – in education, the arts, mental health, and environmental sectors – I bring openness, connectivity and a deep respect for individual journeys. My sessions invite stillness, curiosity and vitality, creating the reflective space needed to act with clarity, care, and intention.

From a one-off session to a series, my coaching sessions will offer you an opportunity for analysis, reflection and action on whatever creative aspect of your life you want to focus upon. Carving out space for your own thinking-feeling around an aspect of your life can strengthen relationships with others as well as yourself, open communication channels, and increase your self-awareness and confidence.

Each session will unpack your existing skills and experiences, enabling you to touch and activate your potential.

I specialise in creative freelance practice, transitions, trauma sensitivity, neurodiversity, eco-grief, and white awareness.

Sessions can be either face to face, over the phone, on whatsapp or zoom. Inside or outside, depending on your preference.

I became an accredited coach in 2008 (PCT & RD1st) and worked as a career coach for the Flax writers and still do with other writers and creatives. Other relevant credentials include:

End of Life Doula Foundation Training (Living Well, Dying Well, 2025)
Ordained into the Order of Interbeing (2025)
Full Permaculture Design Course (The Permaculture Association, 2023)
PhD in Philosophy (Liverpool University, 2019)
Accredited Coach (PCT & RD1st, 2008)

Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more. More testimonials here.

Elsewhere I have experience of working with many different groups of people and individuals, in settings as diverse as prisons, mental health day-care, schools, adult education, undergraduates and community settings.

Fee
Fees range between £30-£70 per hour, depending on your financial situation. By you paying the higher end of the range I’m able to continue to offer subsidised rates. Pay it forward, if you can.

CONTACT sehymas [at] gmail [dot] com

Mentor

Between the mentor and the mentee is the work. As a mentor my interest lies in working with you to achieve your writing goals.

I will be a thorough and careful reader of your work; a supportive and empathetic communicator. Your work is yours – and my approach is to enable the growth of your work as you envisage it.

Maybe we won’t always work on the writing, focusing instead on your writing self, on your process, practice and resilience. I hope to help you learn to negotiate tricky periods in your writing life, so you feel more confident in your work and creative processes.

In the main, the mentoring meets will be monthly, face to face or virtually, to discuss your writing (the amount to be arranged between us) and if applicable other aspects of your work, such as time management, motivation, confidence, goal-setting etc.

At the end of the mentoring, you will have a clear idea of what you have achieved and a plan of where to go next.

What does it Cost? and Other Answers

In the spirit of inclusiveness, my fees range between £30-£70 per hour, depending on your financial situation. The higher end of the range enables me to offer subsidised rates. Pay it forward, if you can.

Our meets can be for either an hour or two hours with some preparatory time for me to read your work.

I’m based in the North West of England and if you can travel here, we can meet in person. If that’s not possible, for the same price I offer distance mentoring by email, phone or Skype / zoom.

I recommend monthly meetings, but this is up to you.

I am also happy to advise you if you want to apply for ACE funding to support a mentoring project. Again, just get in touch.

Meeting and consultations cancelled with less than 48 hours notice are non-refundable. I’ll issue you with a contract before we begin.

Writing workshops

I have led writing workshops in adult education, prisons, primary schools, with undergraduates, for the Continuing Education Department at Lancaster University, on an annual week-long residential at The French House Experience, for the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) and The Poetry School (online) and many other short term and individual projects.

My particular interests lie in life and poetry writing. I have also led workshops on performance skills, writing from the body, self-publishing and editing.

I believe all workshops provide fertile ground for ideas and discussion and don’t expect people to produce final drafts or even work they may want to share. The workshop is precisely that: a place to explore, chisel and glue ideas. They offer the chance to hear what other writers write, read or think, to play and dip you toe into new waters and with any luck to leave stimulated, thinking thoughts you’d not had before, and confident in writing more.

What other people have said

Thanks for the talk. You were brill. All the students really enjoyed it and benefited a lot. So did I! It was really good to think about things in terms of what works for you individually.

Excellent tutor, fascinating subject!

One of the best managed/facilitated courses I have ever attended. Enhanced my listening to and respect of other people’s voices enormously.

I thought Sarah did a great job of keeping us on track and not preventing diversions. She clearly knows her stuff and how to deliver it.

Thank you, it has changed my life.

Sarah really is a genius. The way she got such a mixed bag of people to unlock their inner creativity was amazing.

Sarah, from the start, put everyone at their ease and used an amazing array of techniques and games to allow us all to tap into our own creativity.

Sarah was organised, approachable and clearly knowledgable about all aspects of creative writing and, importantly for me, the processes of creativity. I was inspired by the way she encouraged us to write for ourselves, be decisive and find our own meaning, rather than following rules, or relying too much on the opinions of writing groups.

Sarah Hymas is ingeniously clever as a creative writing tutor, and I thoroughly enjoyed her series of intense tasks and more informal parlour games, each a mind manipulation intent on making one use your imagination and freedom of expression. For me, Sarah was the perfect choice of tutor at the French House Party Experience mini break, and would undoubtedly be equally ideal for all other such workshops.

Get in touch if you would like to discuss ideas for a workshop.
Email: sehymas at gmail dot com

I create spaces in which to think, through coaching and mentoring. I facilitate a writer’s imaginarium and other workshops. I create live literature events and tours; and I edit on- and off-line publications.

My guiding principle when working with others is to keep myself out of the frame. The work is what is important.

As a coach my aim to enable you to clarify exactly what it is you want and how you can best achieve it.

As a mentor or workshop facilitator my job is to help you write what you want – and in the best way to suit you.

As a producer of live literature events my focus is on creating
engaging, vibrant and inclusive occasions, introducing new writing and writers. I want to share and spread the imaginative reach of performed poetry and prose.

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Ceremony

We all have stories, and stories within stories, that frame our relationships, rites of passage, environments and events. These can be explored and shared in a ceremony that expresses your own sensibility, experience and hopes.

A civil ceremony has the freedom to take place anywhere that best reflects your intent. The formality or informality, size and details of your ceremony are determined by the type of event desired.
Rituals can be grand gestures or intimate moments.

I relish collaborating with people to ensure moments of significance are marked in authentic ways. Spontaneity in the planning can enliven the process and bring genuine individuality to the ceremony.

I devise and deliver Commitment Ceremonies, Natural Burials, End of Life Celebrations, Birth & Namings. More details on my ceremony making are here.

What I offer
I provide an initial meeting to design your ceremony. This can be in person, over the phone or online. We discuss your aspirations: the why, where, what and how of the occasion. My skill is in helping you find exactly what it is you want, from the overarching theme to small, significant details: the glaze on the cherry on the icing on the cake.

As a writer I can write the wording, give drafts over to you for discussion and amendment, or not. I also have a huge knowledge of possible poems and other writings that may suit your needs.

A rehearsal is also included for Weddings and Civil Partnership
Ceremonies.

As facilitator of the ceremony I can be as present as you wish, as your occasion requires. I will ensure everyone knows what is going to happen and act as a guide to the event, holding the space so it’s as sure and safe as possible for everyone there.

Types of ceremonies I offer are Namings, Natural Burials, End of Life Celebrations and Commitment Ceremonies .

Script-only
If you would prefer a family member or friend to deliver your ceremony but would like help with the content, I can offer a script-only service.
Please email for a conversation

Costs
Piece-of-string territory here.
For an end of life or naming celebration
Planning and delivery: £200, including the writing of a short script.
For Commitment Ceremonies
Planning and Delivery £350, including the writing of scripts

More requirements, then the cost rises accordingly. I am also happy to work with tighter budgets.
Let’s have a chat and see what you want and what I can offer

Add-ons
I make limited edition art books and pamphlets and can design, or advise on the design of, any printed materials you may want to accompany your ceremony.

I do enjoy the low tech side of ceremony and value pre-loved
resources, so happily work to smaller budgets.
Email: sehymas [at] gmail [dot] com

I can also point you towards a great photographer, dressmaker and cake-maker based in the north west of England. And probably know other people who can help make your ceremony just as you want.

About & Contact

Email: sehymas [at] gmail.com

When I was working in HMP Lancaster Castle an inmate shared his experience of being a dad inside, how much he missed his son and what he wanted to pass on to him. He said “All I’ve got to give him is my word”.

I believe, ultimately, all any of us have is our word. What we say defines us alongside what we do.

My dad used to say “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never harm you.”

As much as I love my dad, I don’t agree. I think the thoughts and beliefs
contained in words do have power. As well as harm, they can heal, inspire, challenge and illuminate.

How words root us is what guides me as a poet and celebrant. I am passionate about communication – clear, careful communication – that connects us, enables us to share experience, ideas and emotion.

I am glad to be working with such delicate, strong tools as words. I aim to highlight the wonder and limitlessness of words in poems, stories and song in all aspects of my work: writing, ceremony, coaching …

Based on Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, England, other elements I love in life are the sea and sky. I believe we are shaped by where we live. At the moment, I’m being whittled to a windblown thing.

Read more about my creative practice on substack

Or my CV can be viewed here.

Email: sehymas [at] gmail.com

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