WASHING WORDS WITH OUR STRANGER NEIGHBOURS!

Starting To Write In E17 – Stranger Neighbour Residency. Some of our group at the end of a busy weekend

Well, where do I begin?

Daz & coins for the launderette at Hanging Words Out To Dry

We could start with the laughter in the launderette during Hanging Words Out To Dry over the past two Thursdays, as we reminisced with the help of Daz washing powder, the book of housekeeping and a purse full of coins for the machines. There were fast paced writing exercises such as; ‘I remember’, lists of words & phrases associated with launderettes & washing clothes, zooming in & out on the machines, the numerous signs and the people of Deep Clean launderette in Walthamstow, E17. We reached for the fabric pens & selected the words to write onto our washing and hung it all out to dry – taking joy in reading aloud to the group & bemused customers!

Laughing at the launderette – Hanging Words Out To Dry

These Reminiscence & Creative Writing Workshops with myself & Rochelle Scholar from Mendham Writers were part of the Words Over Waltham Forest Festival.

Or I could begin by telling you about the Starting to Write in E17 – Stranger Neighbour Residency last weekend, with the drawing shed and Arvon, which I co-tutored with Jacob Sam-La Rose. This intergenerational project was also part of the Words Over Waltham Forest Festival which took place at the William Morris & Winns Galleries, with a dinner and reading at The Mill. We all went on a wonderful journey over the course of the weekend. There was much laughter, scribbling, talking, typing, tweeting, eating, sharing and learning and I feel very honoured to have been involved. Writing exercises explored experiences and interpretation of home and our neighbourhood. The group wrote free flow exercises, poetry, memoir and story. We explored and took inspiration from William Morris Gallery, Lloyds Park and Winns Gallery.

Enjoy the photos below from both projects…

The workshops in Kew are also continuing and we have been thinking about creative life writing – how we turn our life into literature . Try this: 1) Writing in the first person – free flow a memory from your childhood, or a story that has been told to you. 2) Then re-write the story from a different leading character, in the third person. Think of a new motivation for the main character. 3) Change the story’s setting – perhaps the period it is set in or extreme weather etc. When you have finished all three exercises – ask yourself what remains of the original story/memory, does the essence that made it memorable in the first place remain?

Creative Writes Workshops:
Our Themed Workshops, Skype Workshops & Masterclasses are ongoing and continue to go well. Skype sessions are now available for an hour aswell as a set of three. There is a new package of four Masterclasses and the next Themed Workshop is Myriad of Objects on 11 December in Muswell Hill. Masterclasses are for adults and children, for one or two hours. Please let me know if you are interested in attending: info@creativewrites.co.uk

Creative Writes Seasonal Gift Vouchers are available! Please email me for details and to arrange for the vouchers to be posted.

Our Creative Writes Early Bird Workshop Offer for Sutton House Saturdays, 2-4pm, March 2014, Hackney E9 is valid until 31 December 2013. Booking and further details here: https://www.creativewrites.co.uk/p/bookings-workshop-info-how-to-book.html

Many thanks & hope to see you all soon. Comments on this blog we are welcome.

Bye for now!