About this Event
Day: Wednesdays
Dates: 9 October 2024 – 4 December 2024
1 x week break for Half Term – Wednesday 30 October
Time: 18:00 – 20:00
Level: Beginners (18+)
Tutors: Astrid Alben and Sophie Herxheimer
Location: 124 Kennington Park Road, London, SE11 4DJ
Cost: £210 / Early Bird rate: £190
COURSE OVERVIEW
This 8 week creative writing course, directed at visual artists and art enthusiasts, introduces literary techniques that can be connected to art-making or responding to art. In this 8-week course, you will explore collage, fragmentation, notebook-scavenging, erasure, the graphic novel, flash fiction, concrete poetry, and other forms and devices that will expand your imagination and hone your skills in a supportive workshop setting.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Most traditional creative writing workshops are limited by genre: fiction, poetry, playwriting and creative nonfiction. This course, by contrast, favours a multi-genre, fluid approach that can incorporate ‘outside’ disciplines such as philosophy, memoir, criticism and – in particular – visual art.
The course is directed at artists, art enthusiasts and writers hoping to innovate their practice. In these 8 workshops, you will be introduced to literary techniques with affinities to art making and art writing. Among the topics we will explore are collage, fragmentation, notebook-scavenging, erasure, flash fiction, concrete poetry and storytelling in using image and text.
Astrid and Sophie are acclaimed poets who work innovatively across genres. Teaching alternating weeks, they will provide a supportive and interactive workshop environment that will include a combination of tutor and peer feedback.
By the end of the course, you will have learned new techniques, developed confidence in your writing, and acquired a portfolio of new written and made material. The course is suitable for all levels of writers, artists and creative thinkers. Some knowledge of art and literature is recommended.
All you need for class each week is a pen, a notebook and your imagination. Other materials will be provided by the tutors.
ABOUT THE TUTORS
Astrid Alben is a poet, editor and translator. She is the author of three poetry collections, Ai! Ai! Pianissimo, Plainspeak and Little Dead Rabbit, which is also published in Dutch by PoëzieCentrum. Her translation of Anne Vegter’s Island glacier mountain won an English PEN Translates Award in 2022. She has worked with BBC Radio and Wellcome Collection, and with performance and animation. Alben was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in 2014 for her work across the arts and sciences with PARS, an arts and sciences initiative she founded at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam in 2002. She is currently working on a new book and is the international editor for Prototype Publishing. Website | Instagram
Sophie Herxheimer is a visual artist and poet. She’s held many residencies in the UK and internationally. Her work has been shown at Tate Modern, The British Library and on a giant mural along the sea-front at Margate. She made a 300 metre tablecloth for the Thames Festival, a life-size concrete poem in the shape of Mrs Beeton, and devised the colour palette for hit Cbeebies show In the Night Garden. She has illustrated six collections of mythology and fairy tale, most recently The Mighty Goddess (The History Press, 2023.) with Sally Pomme Clayton. Her poetry collection Velkom to Inklandt (Short Books, 2017) was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. Her book 60 Lovers to Make and Do, (Henningham Family Press, 2019) was a TLS Book of the Year. She has an ongoing project where she listens and draws stories live with members of the public. Her latest collection is INDEX (zimZalla, 2021) 78 poems made from found text, published as a tarot deck. She is currently collaborating with film maker Sarah Gavron on a graphic novel. Website | Instagram | Blog
10% discount available for City & Guilds of London Art School undergraduate, postgraduate and foundation students and alumni, and staff. Contact to receive the discount code.
Participants must be aged over 18.
Please note: in accordance with Eventbrite’s Terms of Service, Eventbrite’s fees are non-refundable. Any refunds made for Evening Course bookings will have Eventbrite’s fees deducted, unless we cancel the course. For more information, please see our terms and conditions.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
City & Guilds of London Art School, City & Guilds of London Art School, London, United Kingdom
GBP 190.00 to GBP 210.00
