TheFED Writing Festival 2016 (June)
Saturday 4th June
Faraday House
(48-51 Old Gloucester Street, Holborn, London, WC1N 3AE)
Were you there?
Please send your photos, recordings, writing, suggestions etc.
to fedonline1@gmail.com
The Photographs
The Workshops
I Am a Giant - Michael C. Bungay
Imagine you are several times your normal size. How tall would you be? Would you maintain your usual appearance or would you have a totally different appearance? Would you be friendly or scary? How would other people see you? Would you be happy or sad? It is entirely up to you how you would imagine yourself as a giant but think carefully before you start writin
Stories that have made me who I am! - Andrew Henry Smith
In this workshop we will take a story from our past, stories that we have usually viewed with disdain, stories of 'failure', stories of heartache, which, though we would wish that they hadn't happened - nevertheless they did!
Once we have gathered these forlorn tales we will mine them for lessons and the wisdom that comes with distance and perspective. Then we will rewrite them from a kinder and more forgiving place.
This is a workshop for those interested in autobiography and self development through writing. Be prepared to reveal a little of yourself, share with others and enjoy yourself.
Lost Histories - Roger Mills
A series of presentations - tales less told - have been running in the east end of London about individuals whose lives have been previously unrecorded.
This workshop will look at some of those stories. It will also be an opportunity to tell our own stories and those from our own communities.
How can these stories be brought to a wider audience?
The workshop will also include writing exercises.
What makes a Poem a Great Poem? - Dave Chambers
Some thoughts about some of the Great Poems, and some about some of the not so well known Greats. What do they do that the rest of us don't?
The Perils of Writing about Sex - John Malcomson
Do you have a problem writing about sex? If you want to write a sex scene in your story what should you concentrate on? Do you focus on the mechanics of getting undressed and into bed, followed by a physical description of the act itself? Or is it better to think in terms of the way people are feeling as they engage in sex? Or is there another way of writing about sex?This workshop will involve some writing – about sex, of course – but also discussions on the best ways of writing a sex scene.
Fragments: recycling words to create a mozaic of writing - Louise Glasscoe
This will be a hands-on workshop, literally using the physicality of fragments of writing, juxtaposing bureaucratic, creative and journalistic writing, with the added stimulation of colours, to create a mozaic which could result in a piece of visual art. Perhaps a phrase from a sentence, or a tantalising fragment of a story, will inspire you to create a fresh piece of writing, or to imagine another direction to a story. Paper and sellotape will be provided and the workshop may finish earlier than advertised.
The Golden Thread - Roy & Lucia Birch
Through a short group meditation we will activate our awareness of the thread, and will then journey with it through a creative writing exercise inspired by our contemplation of the spiritually magical Soul Cards, through our collective sharing of the words we write, and finally through the deeply profound and beautiful exercise known as Soul Bonding.
In the classical Chinese Scripture, the Tao the Ching (The Way of Heaven), Lao Tzu tells us ‘There is a thread running through the Way.’ Join us and know his words were true.
Prescription for Poetry - Dave Chambers
You have to choose your words carefully because each word has a special job, it has to be just right, in the right place, it has to count.
So in this workshop we'll look at ways of finding the right words, and to make sure they count, bring your calculator!
Poem:- A composition of high beauty of thought or language and artistic form, typically, but not necessarily, in verse: (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary)