Creative Writing with Karen McCarthy Woolf
Get the creative habit!
Writing creatively requires us to develop a close and personal
attentiveness to our surroundings. Yet all too often the hustle bustle
of modern life gets in the way. Tutor Karen McCarthy Woolf invites you
to embark on an artistic adventure in the inspiring natural
environment at Château l'Age Baston that will stretch the
imagination and help you to
establish and maintain an ongoing creative practice and output.
Throughout the week we will explore how keeping a notebook, journalling
and creative letter writing can support regular writing practice and
encourage rich and evocative poetry or prose. Suitable for beginners,
more experienced writers who want to 'beat the block' or anyone
interested in fulfilling their creative potential.
Throughout the week we will meet for taught workshop sessions in the morning, where you will be given writing exercises to kick-start new projects and ideas or give you a fresh eye on an ongoing piece of writing that might need revitalising. As a group, we will read published authors for inspiration and example and use 'freewriting' techniques to help us produce an abundance of new material.
Everyone on the course will be asked to keep a 'creative journal', a scrapbook where you will be encouraged to record your writing process, keep notes about books you are reading, newspaper cuttings, quotes and photographs, press flowers, jot down new ideas, sketch or doodle. The journal is a place where you allow yourself to be messy so that new ideas for stories or poems can germinate and grow. We will also look at techniques like the art of letter writing, bricolage and other collaborative methods.
After lunch there will be free time in which to write and develop your ideas or complete homework tasks as well as ample opportunities to simply relax in the grounds or explore the local area. There will also be an opportunity to meet for a detailed one-to-one feedback tutorial with Karen with a view to helping you develop your writing with tips for editing and redrafting.
This part of France has a rich literary heritage. From the Maximes of La Rochefoucauld to the Poems of Alfred de Vigny by way of Balzac novels set in Angoulême, this area has been the source of some of the classics of French Literature. Local Shops, squares, the Cloisters, the Collegiate Church, they are all worth a look.
Château l'Age Baston itself is set in idyllic grounds and countryside. The course will encourage you to engage with the beauty of the natural surroundings and one of the sessions will be a 'Haiku Walk' on which students will be introduced to the essence of this ancient Japanese poetry form.
The last night will culminate in a reading of new work produced on the course and a celebratory champagne reception.
A Typical Day - Creative Writing
Most mornings there will be a workshop with Karen looking at the writing process, learning techniques and undertaking creative writing exercises. After lunch there will be free time in which to write and develop your ideas or complete set tasks as well relax by the pool or explore the local area. There will then usually be a feedback session late afternoon to reflect on the day's ideas and writing. The exception to this will be mid week when there will also be a 'self-study' day giving you full opportunity to focus on your writing. During this day, Karen will also see each guest for a one-to-one tutorial. The following is an example day on the Creative Writing course at l'Age Baston.
- 8.30am onwards Continental Breakfast,
- 9.30am-12.30pm Morning session with Karen,
- 1.00pm-2.30pm Lunch with wine in the courtyard with your hosts Alex & John,
- 3.00pm-5.00pm Your choice of writing, relaxing by the pool or sightseeing,
- 5.00pm-6.00pm Review session with Karen,
- 7.00pm-8.00pm An aperitif while you catch the evening sunshine in the courtyard with your hosts Alex & John,
- 8.00pm onwards Four course Dinner with wine in the courtyard or dining room.
Karen McCarthy Woolf
Karen's writing has been commissioned as an installation for the London Word Festival, broadcast on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and published in numerous magazines and journals including Poetry Review and Modern Poetry in Translation. Her illustrated short collection The Worshipful Company of Pomegranate Slicers was selected as a New Statesman Book of the Year. Karen has taught creative writing widely, from the South Bank Centre and the Photographers' Gallery to Wormwood Scrubs and Buckingham Palace! Karen is interested in the creative process.
| July 21st |
Prices
- These are Early Booking prices, offer ends February 29th 2012
- 7 nights: £825
Creative Writing begins with your arrival on Saturday afternoon and ends on the following Saturday after breakfast.
