About

In this Saturday morning creative writing course led by Janette Simpson, each class will be a stand alone session, where you can dip in and out as it suits you. There's no obligation to attend all sessions, but you're encouraged to come to as many as possible.

Our lives are made up of a series of events and experiences – both ordinary and extraordinary. We give a lot of thought to the big stuff, but little thought to the ordinary. Remembering the details of our lives can help us to make sense of both who we are and why we behave and think as we do.

Writing offers us the opportunity to re-capture moments, to live them a second time and to pay attention to the child, the teenager or the adult we were at particular points.

The purpose of this writing course is to give you time, space and guidance to record some of your memories. It's unlikely that you'll know which memories are going to be inspired at the start of each session. You may surprise yourself as you begin to write – that is the beauty of this magical, mystery writing experience. You may suddenly remember a smell or a taste or a sound that was long forgotten.

Each session will begin with a warm up writing exercise to help prepare you for independent writing. You'll then be offered a different prompt each week, with time to discuss before you begin writing.

By the end of the course, you will have created a collection of patchwork pieces, a series of vignettes to share with your friends and family – or perhaps, a collection of memories to keep for yourself.

And once the course is finished, you can continue your patchwork of memories. There is no limit to how much or how little you write.

As always, we'll be serving hot or cold drinks to help creativity.

For participants signing up to all 5 mornings, a discounted price applies.

Janette Simpson is an experienced and popular writing teacher, who has led many creative writing workshops with both adults and children. Participant numbers are kept deliberately low (maximum 8) to ensure that everyone has plenty of opportunities to contribute and to ask questions.

"Janette was really enthusiastic and supportive."

"The class was fun and I enjoyed the various different tasks."