Workshops, Masterclasses & Retreats at Wise Words
Each year the festival brings some of the most incredible writers and poets to Canterbury and we have always had lots of requests for workshops, masterclasses and retreats. This year we have made it happen and are very excited to be offering the following events. A CPD certificate will also be provided on completion of each event.
Monday 2nd May
A Writing Retreat with Canterbury Laureate John Siddique | 10am – 4pm | £60
Join our Poet Laureate for a day of going deeper with your writing. We will spend the day creating new works from a series of wonderful inspirations, we will look at how recognising the underlying storytelling techniques of poetry can lead to better writing, and we will also go out and find writing right in the city.
We will provide a light lunch.
Tuesday 3rd May
A Journalling Retreat with Canterbury Laureate John Siddique | 10 – 4 | £60
Journalling is one of the greatest tools for developing both our writing and for learning about and ourselves. John has kept a journal most of his life, and in this session he will share some ways of working and going deeper, find out more about what it is that you want to write or create. Bring your pen, note book and a camera.
We will provide a light lunch.
Wednesday 4th May
A Wellbeing Retreat with Canterbury Laureate John Siddique | 10 – 4 | £60
John is the founder of Authentic Living through which he teaches meditation and encourages healing through self care. Join us for a beautiful day of coming home to the presence and truth of yourself, and from that base we will explore building a life that is actually yours.
We will provide a light lunch.
Thursday 5th May
A Wise Words poetry and creative writing retreat | 10:30 am – 4:30pm | £60
Run away from the world, and join us for a day of guided listening, reflecting and writing. Together we’ll gently rediscover the creative spark you might have temporarily lost and have fun through a varied series of short guided writing exercises as well as enjoying some deep reading and listening. It’s a day to forget the grammar police, all those proper ways to read a poem and even neat handwriting as you give yourself time and space to tune your unique writing ear, liberate your imagination and use language as a map for exploration. This retreat will be led by two experienced and creative writers and teachers Sarah Salway & Fiona Lesley Bennett. You’ll write at your own pace, and with absolutely no need to share unless you want. No previous writing experience is necessary.
We will provide a light lunch.
Friday 6th May
Write and walk with John Siddique | 09:30 –12:30 | £30
Grab you note book, camera, pen and let’s get out for a walk and a writing session which will generate new work from what we encounter as we go.
Bring your pen, note book and a camera if you have one.
A Masterclass with Andrew McMillan | 13:30 - 16:00 | £25
A chance to explore how to write about the personal and the everyday in a way which is accessible and celebratory.
Andrew McMillan was born in South Yorkshire in 1988; his debut collection physical was the first ever poetry collection to win The Guardian First Book Award. The collection also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. It was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2015. In 2014 he received a substantial Northern Writers’ Award.
‘Unforced, unbidden, these are poems that call you by your real name, poems that have seen you naked, poems that find out your secrets and gift them back. Physical is alive with subtle reflections on masculinity, love and loss; a record of how we forget ourselves and how we remember. It will captivate and change you.’ Helen Mort
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