Writing the Change You Want to See
This is not a course on speculative writing. This is not a course on writing as therapy.
This six month series of workshops focuses on how change is inevitable, and fundamental to all writing. How we might ride that change in our writing and our worlds.
The focus is on writing stories / poems / lives that come from our heart, that we’re passionate about and want to feed to the future.
Narrative change, emotional change, character development, and changing locations all propel our prose and poetry. Nothing stays the same, in writing as in life. We also know that writing changes (however minutely) the writer, the reader, the page, screen or site in which it occurs.
This programme is an opportunity to write in uncertain times. We will explore how they might reflect the changes we’re living through.
Who it’s For
- Writers of fiction, poetry, memoir or scripts, or something less defined, for a public or yourself, new or experienced.
- who want to write, experiment and share work that responds to the challenges we face today, for an investment in tomorrow.
- who are looking for a regnerative practice, one that does not respond to demands of production and competition
- who have an idea they want to explore, an itch they want to scratch, a desire to change what they’re writing
- who don’t necessarily have a grounding in ecological thought, just a commitment to investing in the future.
- who are able to sign up with the intention of attending all six sessions
We will explore scales of change in our work. What we want to endorse and what we want to challenge. We will ask how we might ‘stay with the trouble’ we find ourselves in, and write our way through it.
Through games, writing prompts, reading and discussions, we’ll explore our core values, lived experiences and the physical world to feed our imagination and creative processes. The emphasis is on tapping into what gives us joy, our passions and our lives meaning.
It’s a programme for bold, courageous acts of imagination, supported by the writers present and those whose books we love. It’s about taking responsibility for what we write and say, within the cycle of what we read and hear.
You’ll have the space to develop existing projects within the frame of ecological connectivity. I’ll share favourite bits of writing from Robin Wall Kinmerer, Winona La Duke, bell hooks, and Merlin Sheldrake, as well as invite you to share your own favourites, to nourish your thinking, writing and articulation.
Format
Online
1000-1230 (UK time) the 3rd Saturday every month, January- June (inclusive) 2023.
A rotating buddy system will operate so you can agree how much connection you maintain with the group between sessions. Your buddy will change each month.
An inclusive hour long one-to-one coaching/mentoring session with me within the six months, which could be face to face (in Lancaster area), online or phone.
Mid month provocations you can opt to engage with or not.
More info on the ethos of an imaginarium here
Accessibility
All provocations and readings will be sent in advance
Closed captions will be made available for the zoom meetings
Regular camera-off time will be built into the sessions
Cost
There are three self-selecting bands:
£170 full; £120 mid-range; £60 concs; one bursary
which includes all materials, online sessions, and a one to one tutorial.
Please choose whichever band feels most affordable to your current situation
How to Register Your Interest
There are 8 places.
Please send an email if you’d like to be put on a waiting list
to sehymas [@] gmail [dot] com with:
1. a few sentences on what interests you about the Imaginarium
2. the genre you’re planning to work in and / or any info on the project you hope to [begin to] write next year. You can be as sketchy as necessary. This is for me to pull together a cohesive group of writers who can work across the buddy system.
3. which fee band you want to pay
4. any access needs you have
5. any questions
We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.
Mahatma Gandhi
