Nottingham Writers’ Days

Nottingham Writers’ Days are a programme of one-day intensive writing workshops, led by award-winning writers from Nottingham Writers’ Studio. Each day will include workshop sessions, writing exercises and peer reviewing, plus individual discussions about your work. The sessions will be held at Nottingham Contemporary Art Gallery from 10.15am-5.30pm, followed by a group dinner at 6pm.* There will be a limit of 12 participants for each workshop.

Cost: £45 NWS Members and Concessions £75 Non-members per event. This will include tuition, tea/coffee on arrival (replenished throughout the day), lunch, and dinner.

For more information and to book, please contact: admin@nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk

Summer/Autumn Programme 2010

Saturday 10th July 2010
‘From Idea to Screenplay’ with Michael Eaton
Writers who wish to participate in this workshop must have no inhibitions, for they will be required (in the company of folk they have never met before) to develop an idea of their own through various stages: the pitch, the outline, the treatment and, at last, the screenplay. In the history of cinema the genesis of most films has come from a story which already existed, so the focus will be on ‘Adaptation’. Each participant should bring a five minute statement of an idea they would like to turn into a screenplay (of any length). This founding notion might derive from a newspaper article, from another medium, perhaps even from an incident in their own lives. In the morning we will benignly share these tales and in the afternoon we will critically work together to wonder how the principles of narrative structure might be mobilised to turn base metal into dramatic gold.

Saturday 25th September 2010
‘Planning and Developing Your Novel’ with Nicola Monaghan
This course will focus on the issues faced by a novelist producing an extended piece of work. Looking at plot, narrative structure, character and practical approaches to planning your work, the session will involve writing exercises, discussion and analysis of other writers’ work. Ideally participants will have been writing for a while and, to get the most out of the day, will bring ideas about a project to develop during the workshops.

Saturday 23rd October 2010
‘Cross It Out and Start Again: Editing Fiction’ with Jon McGregor
This course will look at the art of editing, where much of the work of writing is really done. We’ll study some before-and-after examples from published writers’ work, and consider some of the aims and challenges of insightful editing, before moving on to wield the mighty red pen over some of our own work. The workshops will concentrate on editing shorter pieces, but we will also cover ways of approaching the overall structure and shape of a novel. Participants should bring a piece of writing with them: either a short story, or a novel extract with associated synopsis/outline. Mighty red pens will be provided.

Workshop Leaders

Michael Eaton, MBE, is a screenwriter who specialises in docudrama. His work includes Shipman, Shoot To Kill and Who Bombed Lockerbie. His fictional work includes Flowers of the Forest and the TV series Signs and Wonders. He has adapted works by George Eliot and Charles Dickens for BBC Radio 4, and is visiting Professor in the School of Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.
See Michael Eaton’s entry at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0247861

Nicola Monaghan has worked as a teacher, a financial analyst and a software guru. She gained an MA in Writing from Nottingham Trent University in 2004. Her first novel, The Killing Jar, won a Betty Trask Award, the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Prize and the Waverton Good Read. She has subsequently published a second novel, Starfishing, and a novella, The Okinawa Dragon. http://www.nicolamonaghan.co.uk

Jon McGregor is the author of the critically acclaimed If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things and So Many Ways To Begin. He is the winner of the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award, and has twice been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He was born in Bermuda in 1976. He grew up in Norfolk and now lives in Nottingham. Even the Dogs is his third novel. http://www.jonmcgregor.com

BOOKING FORM

Please return this booking slip to: Nottingham Writers’ Studio, 49 Stoney Street, Lace Market, Nottingham NG1 1LX with your BOOKING FEE (£45/£75 per day). Cheques are payable to Nottingham Writers’ Studio.

We will confirm your reservation upon receipt of this booking form and fee, and you will be emailed/sent a full itinerary of the day. Places will be offered on a ‘first come’ basis. If the course is full, payment will be returned.
Nottingham Writers’ Days

– please indicate which workshop/s you would like to attend
Saturday 10

th July 2010 ‘From Idea to Screenplay’ with Michael Eaton
Saturday 25

th September 2010 ‘Planning and Developing Your Novel’ with Nicola Monaghan
Saturday 23

rd October 2010 ‘Cross It Out and Start Again: Editing Fiction’ with Jon McGregor
FULL NAME:

ADDRESS:

POST CODE:

TELEPHONE:

EMAIL:

*All participants must be 18 years or over. You are welcome to book more than one event.

Please tell us about any special requirements you may have (including dietary requirements) here:

Aly Stoneman
Coordinator
Nottingham Writers’ Studio
Sutton Place Business Centre
49 Stoney Street
Nottingham
NG1 1LX

0115 9597947

admin@nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk

http://www.nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk

Writing School Leicester – Summer School

Writing a Short Story with Bead Roberts
10.00-12.00 daily w/b 16th August £60
Suitable for beginners and those with some writing experience. Using written exercises, shared responses and group discussions, students will learn how to build the skeleton of a short story in their chosen genre.

Writing, Planning and Developing a Book for Children or Teenagers with Debbie White13.30-15.30 daily w/b 16th August £60
This course is not an introduction to children’s writing, but if you are having problems plotting, creating character, establishing believable settings, or just getting started then individual help and advice will be on hand from the tutor. Come along and be prepared to write, so that by the end of the week you will have made good progress towards that ultimate goal – a publishable book for children or teenagers.

For more details see: http://www.writingschoolleicester.co.uk/Sumer_School_2010.html

Writing the Short Story

Writing the Short Story workshops

Have you ever wanted to become a writer? Learn how to transform the seeds of an idea into a short story in a Writing the Short Story workshop, due to be held at artSpaceWorkshops, Stoney Street, The Lace Market, on Saturday 8th May between 10am and 4pm.

This one-day practical workshop, introduces the short story form by looking at the different aspects of the genre and formulas for successful short story writing. Budding writers will have the opportunity to share ideas and techniques with each other. The workshop costs £60 for the day and includes all tools and materials.

For more information on Writing the Short Story and other workshops artSpaceWorkshops offer, please visit our website on www.artspaceworkshops.com

Writing and Meditation Retreat

“The Beginner’s Mind – Even The Mundane is Beautiful”

Saturday 29th May

9am – 5pm

at The Friends’ Meeting House

16 Queens Road, Leicester LE2 1WP

£10 per head (you can pay on the day)

Organised by Catherine Digman with the help of members of The Western Buddhist Order.

Please bring writing materials, either traditional or laptop, but there are only a few plug sockets.

Contact Catherine Digman on 07905 797 216 or at cdigman@gmail.com to book a place.

Please let me know if you have a piece you would like to submit for the group critique exercise (3000 words max), this won’t be a really harsh critique, and in the past people have found them really helpful for developing their work! Prose, stories, creative non-fiction, rough drafts, poems, or excerpts from novels are all welcome.

The retreats are held monthly, and combine traditional Buddhist meditations with creative writing exercises. They are open to writers of any faith and background, beginners are also welcome.

Some Girls’ Mothers

****Some Girls’ Mothers Writing Workshop 18th May****
with Anne Caldwell and River Wolton
2.00pm – 4.00pm Knighton Library places are FREE but please contact the library to reserve a place.
Explore writing about family relationships, especially stories between mothers and daughters and learn how to shape this material into stories and poems. New and experienced writers welcome.

****Some Girls’ Mothers – Live Performance 18th May****
with Anne Caldwell, River Wolton and Char March
7.00pm – 9.00pm Knighton Library
In this highly acclaimed book and live literature event, six daughters speak openly and passionately about mother and daughter relationships. Seasoned performers and the authors promise a night of entertainment and emotional engagement. FREE but please contact the library to reserve a place.
Knighton Library Clarendon Park Road Leicester LE2 3AJ
Telephone: (0116) 299 5477 knighton.lib@leicester.gov.uk

Meditation and Writing Retreat

A meditation and writing retreat will be taking place in the Cultural Quarter, venue & time TBC

This event is open to writers of any genre and level who would like to explore their own ideas and minds in more depth.

The meditations will be led by ordained Buddhists, but the event is open to writers of any faith and background who feel they may benefit from the meditation sessions.
-Meditation puts the mind into a relaxed but alert state, which is ideal for writing. (Whether this is fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays, or just notes and rough drafts.)

Please contact cdigman@gmail.com if you would like to attend, full details to be confirmed.

The Kick School of Creative Writing

The Kick School of Creative Writing is a creative writing school with a difference.

The deal is this: get a bunch of writers together, wannabe or not, and write. Because for the wannabe the only way to get better is to write stuff. Different stuff. Lots of different ideas. Lots of different styles. And for pros, the people who know how to write, same deal; since these are skills that need maintaining.

The format is roughly the following. Everyone turns up and gets comfortable, has a pot of tea etc. Then the first prompt is delivered. This could be a phrase, a poem, a song, anything that can inspire a story/poem. Then we, the group, write for about half an hour.

And then we break for ten minutes. For more tea, toilet breaks and smokes.

Then this process of writing for half an hour and chilling for ten minutes gets repeats two or three more times. A different prompt each time.

This will be a monthly event to begin with, on the second Saturday of each month.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=374194759207&ref=ts

Naked Words

Fridays 10am – 3.30pm, May/June 2010.

A series of one day creative workshops, aimed at all amateur and professional writers including 6th form students who are studying literature and/or arts subjects. Each one day workshop is designed to enhance confidence, and develop originality in writing skills for personal development or coursework requirements. Inspired by the work of figurative artist Susie Mendelsson who is exhibiting at the jgallery in her solo exhibition 7th May to 27th June 2010.

Participants will experience the challenges of connections between visual art and the written word. During the day there will be a series of thought provoking exercises resulting in finished pieces of prose and poetry some of which, will be displayed in the gallery alongside Susie’s artwork.

Susie Mendelsson writes about her work: “The way people look, move and behave fascinates me. They are like unwritten books which reflect their life’s journey, their struggles, and the vulnerabilities which lie behind the mask. I can watch people for hours, inventing stories about them. Like made-up fairy tales, but with the real characters in front of me.”

Dates available: Fridays May 14th, 21st, 28th, & June 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th. Cost: £25 per person (a few subsidised places available subject to funder’s criteria).

Tutors: Yvonne Mitton/Marianne May/ Judith Allnatt/Maria Luisa Coelho/Andreas Petzoid/Sally Spedding (TBC). VENUE: jgallery, 25 West Street, Moulton, Northants, NN3 7SB.

For more information or to book contact 01604 492192 / info@jgallery.org.uk or click http://www.jgallery.org.uk/courses/course.asp?ID=18.

Science Fiction and Politics Workshops

Led by writer and journalist Damien G. Walter, this series of workshops for writers at all stages explores radical and political science fiction, from the post-colonial metaphor of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds to the feminist speculation of Ursula K. LeGuin and Margaret Atwood. Participants will be introduced to a range of techniques, leading to a final reading.

Book online, pay on arrival or through our shop by calling 0115 948 9750. £25 / £15 fee covers all three sessions.

Tue 23 February, 5.30pm – 7pm
Tue 9 March, 5.30pm – 7pm
Tue 23 March, 5.30 – 7pm

See the Nottingham Contemporary website for more information

Oundle Readers’ Day: A day for book lovers

Northamptonshire Libraries and Information Service and Oundle Festival of Literature have joined forces to produce a Readers’ Day for all of the counties readers. Readers’ Days are a real treat for anyone who loves books and reading.

The day will be hosted by poet John Siddique and there will be the opportunity to meet four authors: Jake Arnott, Stella Duffy, Sophie Hannah, and Jojo Moyes. 20th March 2010, 10.00am – 3.30pm, Great Hall, New Street, Oundle.

Tickets £12. Ticket price includes tea and coffee – please bring a packed lunch. Pre-booking is essential. Please complete the form overleaf to book your place. Booking forms are to be returned to Kettering Library (or Oundle Library by hand). Tickets will be sent in the post.

For further information about the day and to book please contact Kettering Library: Ketlib@northamptonshire.gov.uk or 01536 512315.

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