Next Creative Writing Sessions - 28th October - 11th November
Together we stood under the stars, looked up and wrote down...
In October 2024, Dr Gina Maffey and I ran a series of online creative writing workshops, under the theme of ‘Moonrise’. We enjoyed them immensely, and so did our participants:
“I'd forgotten the night sky was there. I was taking it for granted. [Since the workshops] I've been much more observant, much more inclined to stand under it and watch what's going on.”
“The conversations we had as a group [...] enabled me to reflect more on my feelings and thoughts of the world around me.”
“I feel it has given me an opportunity to explore a creative side of myself which I hadn't done for 40+ years.”
Our next theme is STARLINES.
It all began with…
Chaos, a cosmic egg, a deep dive from another Earth.
The stars have always inspired human understanding of our origins, but the stories we have created to fill in the blanks have often been influenced by the patterns in the world around us.
As Science Fiction Writer Isaac Asimov aptly summarised
“Almost in the beginning was curiosity.”
So, in October we’re going back to the start to trace a journey of where we might be going. Come wander the ‘Starlines’, on the third iteration of our online creative writing group.
‘Look Up, Write Down’ dives creatively into the facts of the natural world to invite your imagination to soar.
Dates:
28th October - 7.30 - 9pm GMT
4th November - 7.30 - 9pm GMT
11th November - 7.30 - 9pm GMT
Online via Zoom.
By the end of the three weeks you will have:
- Opened creative connections to the wilder world around you.
- Written at least four new pieces of creative writing.
- Creatively responded to the climate crisis and found an imaginative way to consider what is happening in the world now.
- Listened to scientific ideas inspired by resilience within nature
- Experimented with different ways of writing in response to scientific stories.
- Shared your ideas, fears and hopes with a community of humans all seeking a deeper connection to the wild world.
In practical terms the course will include the following:
- Three 1.5 hour long online zoom sessions
- At home tasks that invite you to continue to explore your ideas creatively in your own time.
- Opportunities to share your writing and ideas within an intimate circle of other creatives
- Guided meditations to awaken your creativity.
- Science based storytelling to reveal the wonder of the wilder world
- A Look Up, Write Down summary document at the end of the course for you to return to.
Your Guides:
Sophie Austin and Gina Maffey will guide you through the roots of resilience that can be found in nature.
Dr Gina Maffey is a weaver of words, willow and wildness.
Born on a farm in Warwickshire, England, she has worked as an environmental researcher and science communicator in the Scottish highlands, the Brazilian wetlands and the Dutch lowlands, where she currently resides. Gina has woven her career across disciplines, including Astronomy, Anthropology and Ecology, to gather a deep, theoretical understanding of the natural world and our relationship with it. She applies this theory through personal experiments, such as living outside for a year.
Gina works as a public speaker and writer, creating interactive workshops and presentations that weave together poetic narratives, scientific insight and personal experience. She is represented by the agency ‘Speakers for Good’.
www.ginamaffey.com | @words.and.weaves
Sophie Austin is a multidisciplinary storyteller working across theatre, film and audio. Based in the UK, she founded and led critically acclaimed site-specific theatre company Teatro Vivo for 15 years before working on film and theatre projects internationally. She is Creative Director at environmental arts organisation, CHANGE Festival, where she creates projects and holds space for artists and audiences seeking inspiration for a regenerative future.
Sophie is Writer in Residence at Lesnes Abbey Woods and a 2022 Bio-Leadership Fellow working with the Bio-leadership Project to explore how we tell new stories about our relationship with the more-than-human world.
If, like us, you feel the global political climate sits on ever shifting sands, we invite you pick up your pen and write down with us, as we face the science and respond, creatively.