Spread The Word Tricks Of The Trade Brochure 2003 2004

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WELCOME

TRICKS OF THE TRADE - DIARY

Welcome to TRICKS OF THE TRADE, our autumn/winter programme, a series of literature events which explore different types of writing

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There are workshops for people at all stages: Complete Beginners is for those of you who have little or no experience of writing but are keen to get started; Resident is for experienced writers who have worked on writer-in-residence schemes or would like to find out about residency opportunities. We also have two courses aimed at younger writers: The Furnace, a blazin' performance poetry inferno and Muso Journo a practical introduction to music journalism. A number of exciting developments have taken place at Spread the Word recently, including the move to new premises. We are now based on Lambeth Walk, not far from the South Bank and Waterloo Station (see map at the back of brochure). We have a dedicated workshop space which is already enabling us to offer a wider number of opportunities to you, including our new writing group: Tricks of the Trade. Spread the Word's staff team has also expanded and we welcome Jenneba Jalloh as Education Officer and Nick Murza as Administrator.

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Turn to the back of the brochure to find out more about Spread the Word's other initiatives such as The Literature List.

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You may notice that un-tongue-tied, a semi-staged reading from two highly acclaimed poets and their poet-translators listed in our spring/summer brochure, features again this season. We are delighted to be able to reschedule this event following its unfortunate cancellation due to circumstances beyond our control. We hope you enjoy Tricks of the Trade. Emma Hewett Jenneba Jalloh Nick Murza Joshua Sofaer

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Course

Tricks of the Trade 24 September - 3 December Spread the Word

Writing Group

Travel Writing 27 & 28 September Fulham Library

Workshop

un-tongue-tied 30 September ICA

Live Literature

Writer's Block 11,12,18 & 19 October

7 Education initiatives this season include an oral history project focusing on the lives of men who arrived in London's Ladbroke Grove from West Africa and the West Indies in the late 1940s; there is also an after school creative writing project with fifteen young people from Brent's Looked After Children's Unit.

The Furnace 12 September -12 December BAG

Clapham Library

Course

Real People 22 October Willesden Green Library

Workshop

Personal Political 22 October Willesden Green Library

Live Literature

Muso Joumo 27,29 & 31 October Raw Material

Workshop

One Letter 1 November Mount Pleasant Sorting Office Royal Mail

10 Haiku & Origami 15 November Daiwa Foundation

Workshop

11 Resident 4 December Spread the Word

Readings & Discussion

12 First Line

9,10 & 11 January Poetry Studio 77 Lambeth Walk LONDON SE11 6DX T 020 7735 3111 F 020 7735 2666

[email protected] www.spreadtheword.org.uk

Live Literature

Workshop

13 Sci-fi & Fantasy 17 & 24 January Peckham Library

Workshop

14 Complete Beginners 24,25 January & 21 February Tabernacle

Workshop

PARTNERSHIP WITH APPLES & SNAKES

THE FURNACE

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

A blazin' performance poetry inferno for 16-25 year olds

Spread the Word's Writing Group

This seven session course offers participants the opportunity to gain a thorough training in performance poetry. Working with an experienced writer and performance poet you will learn different approaches to performing poetry, how to develop your own unique voice and style, and be encouraged to produce new material for presentation.

Spread the Word's new writing group offers experienced writers the opportunity to read and give critical feedback on each other's fiction. The aim is for writers to advance their work to its final stages of development in a supportive and friendly group. Regular attendance is essential.

Guest tutors will join two of the workshops to offer extra guidance, inspiration and first hand advice on performing and, following each workshop participants will attend an Apples & Snakes show. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their work at the Performance Event on December 12.

Facilitator: Shaun Levin

This is a brilliant opportunity to get your performance poetry skills blazin' hot - it's designed to make you burn! Tutor. Aoife Mannix Aoife Mannix is a poet, novelist and playwright. She was born in Stockholm of Irish parents and grew up in Dublin and New York. She has been living in London for the past eight years. Her first book of poetry, The Trick of Foreign Words, was published by Tall Lighthouse in 2002 and she is currently writing her first novel for Xpress. She has written for BBC Radio 4 and worked as the general manager of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme. She has extensive experience of running workshops for young people, most recently with Apples & Snakes on the Writers On The Storm tour. Apples & Snakes, England's leading organiser of performance poetry, was established in 1982 as a platform for poetry which would be popular, relevant, cross-cultural and accessible to the widest possible range of people. It aims to stretch the boundaries of poetry in performance and education and give voice to challenging and diverse poets. It also strives to present poetry in a live and dynamic context in a variety of places across England in order to introduce poetry to new audiences. Fridays: 12 September; 26 September, 10 October; 24 October; 7 November; 21 November; 5 December 6.30 - 8.30pm (workshop) 9 - 11pm (Apples & Snakes show) The Bookshop, BAG, Lavender Hill, London SW11 £10 Places for this course are restricted to those able show to a real commitment to attending all seven sessions and a desire to develop their performance poetry skills TO APPLY FOR A PLACE PLEASE CONTACT SPREAD THE WORD BEFORE 5 SEPTEMBER

PERFORMANCE EVENT Friday 12 December at 9pm BAC, Lavender Hill SW11 With readings and performances from participants on The Furnace course. Admission is free but tickets must be booked in advance through BAC box office on 020 7223 2223

Shaun Levin is a writer and workshop leader. His novella, Seven Sweet Things, was published in the summer. His short stories appear in over thirty international anthologies and journals, most recently in Modem South African Short Stories and The Gay Times Book of Short Stories. He has taught creative writing at South Thames College and Morley College, and has run workshops in venues as diverse as a restaurant, a zoo, a cemetery, and The National Gallery. He led Centerprise Literature Development Project's highly successful workshop How to Make a Living as a Writer in London.

Wednesdays: 24 September; 8 October; 22 October; 5 November; 19 November; 3 December 7-9pm Spread the Word, 77 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 £20/£10 concession This is an advanced critical workshop and not an open entry group TO ENQUIRE ABOUT HOW TO JOIN PLEASE CONTACT SPREAD THE WORD

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WORDWIDE AND WESTWORDS

I PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ICA

TRAVEL

un-tongue-tied

Exploring writing about travel

In this semi-staged reading two highly acclaimed poets, one writing in Persian and the other in Russian, both sharing the spoken Azeri language and cultural heritage, perform together for the first time with their English poet-translators

What does it mean to write about a place when you are just a visitor? What are the boundaries between travel journalism and travel writing? Travel writing is an increasingly popular genre, which can encompass techniques more commonly associated with writing fiction, serious non-fiction and even poetry. This two day intensive workshop will give writers the opportunity to think about the demands and opportunities of writing travel literature. For the purposes of the workshop the techniques of travel literature will be applied to more familiar landscapes. We will also consider how our perceptions change when we leave familiar places and enter unfamiliar ones. An introduction to the genre will be followed by examples of different kinds of travel writing and dedicated exercises which will ask participants to consider a variety of approaches to travel writing. The afternoon sessions will be spent in assisted writing, where participants will have the opportunity to get direct feedback on their work. Tutor: Jean McNeil Jean McNeil is originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, and has lived in London since 1991. She has spent long periods in Latin America, first as a journalist in Brazil, then as the author of the Rough Guide to Costa Rica and a contributor to the Rough Guide to Central America. Her works of fiction are Hunting Down Home 1996, Nights in a Foreign Country 2001, and Private View 2002. She is interested in themes of travel, memory and exile. She currently works as a freelance reviewer and travel writer, and is a publisher of books about Latin America and the Caribbean. Saturday 27 September; Sunday 28 September 10.30am - 4.30pm Fulham Library, 598 Fulham Road, London SW6 £35/£20 concessions BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

Azerbaijan was divided in two at the end of the Russo-Persian war in 1828. Born either side of the Araz River and the border between Iran and what was the USSR, these two young women now find themselves outside the land of their birth, in London, writing in their mother tongue and also working with poets here to see their work translated into English. These poets deal with the grand themes of love, anguish, home and displacement with a tender strength that at once pays homage to their poetic traditions and at the same time is totally fresh. Poets: Negar Hasan-Zadeh, Ziba Karbassi Poet Translators: Richard McKane, Stephen Watts Dramaturg: Caroline Bergvall Caroline Bergvall is a poet and a performance artist. Her books include Eclat (1996) and Goan Atom: Doll (200^ and she also publishes on the net. She has collaborated on a number of performances and installations, most recently at the South London Gallery, September 2002. She is Associate Research Fellow at Dartington College of Arts and has hosted festivals and seminars concerned with bilingualism and cross-media forms of writing. She has recently edited the Performance Research issue on Translations (Summer 2002). Negar Hasan-Zadeh was born in 1975 in Baku in what was the USSR Republic of Azerbaijan. She published her first collection of poetry in Russian in 2000 and in 2001 became the youngest member of Azerbaijan Union of Writers. Her book On the Wings Over the Horizon (which has been translated into English by Richard McKane) was awarded the National Public Prize as the best poetry book of 2001 by the National Academy of Azerbaijan. Her latest Russian collection Two Suns was published in March 2003. Her poems have been published in Russia, Germany, Australia and the UK. Ziba Karbassi was born in Tabriz, northwestern Iran. She and her family were forced to leave their country in the mid-1980's and came to Britain as political refugees. In exile she quickly became recognised as one of the foremost young Iranian poets. For five years she has been the youngest member of the Iranian Writers Association in Exile. Her four books (in Persian) are Scorpion Under The Pillow (1996), With A Broken Star In My Heart (1998), The Sea Will Drown (1999) & Jizzz (2002). She has read and been translated internationally and is a member of Iranian PEN. Richard McKane is a poet, translator and interpreter. He has translated over twelve poetry books from Russian which include

IN ASSOCIATION WITH LAMBETH LIBRARIES

WRITERS BLOCK

Anna Akhmatova: Selected Poems (1989), Osip Mandelstam's The Moscow Notebooks (1991), The Voronezh Notebooks (1996), Nikolay Gumilyov The Pillar of Fire and most recently Ten Russian Poets and Negar's On the Wings Over the Horizon. From the Turkish he has co-translated the works of Oktay Rifat and Nazim Hikmet. His own poetry is published in Amphora for Metaphors, Poet tor Poet, The Turkey Poems and most recently Coffee House Poems.

A four day course providing writers with a range of strategies to overcome writers block

Stephen Watts is a poet and translator. He has published The Lava's Curl (1990 & 2002), co-edited Voices Of Conscience (1995), Mother Tongues (2001) & Music While Drowning (2003). His Gramsci & Caruso will also be published in 2003. He works for Multicultural Arts Consortium in London and has organised many multilingual poetry readings. His Bibliography Of C20th Poetry In English Translation will be published by the end of the year. His own poetry has been widely translated. He and Ziba Karbassi are working on a bilingual selection of both their poetries for joint-publication.

Working from the assumption that writers block operates at two levels - the psychological, which can involve feelings of fear and procrastination, and the practical, which can involve challenges and constraints in your daily life - this course offers writers of all levels and experience two different, but integrated, approaches to overcoming writers block.

Please note: This event has been rescheduled following its unfortunate cancellation from last season's programme due to circumstances beyond our control.

Tuesday September 30 8pm

Writers block, The Wall, staring-at-a-blank-computer-screen syndrome. Call it what you want, all writers experience some form of block at some point in their writing career; it can stop you short and leave you stuck.

Through supportive and lively group discussion, practical writing exercises and creative acts, participants will work on: Overcoming psychological blocks: • Stress management techniques • Approaches to time management • Self-motivation and self-confrontation techniques Overcoming practical blocks: • Techniques for sourcing and building up a store of ideas • How to structure narrative and plot

ICA, The Mall, London SW1 £6/£5concessions; £4 ICA members BOOK THROUGH ICA ONLY ON 020 7930 3647

There will be an opportunity to attend a follow up-session a month after the course has taken place. This will be arranged for a mutually convenient time between the tutors and the group. Tutors: Jackee Holder and Jacob Ross Jackee Holder is a Life Coach, Personal Development Trainer, Spiritual Counsellor, author and Ordained Interfaith Minister. Jackee works with individuals to fulfil their creative potential from all walks of life. She is passionate about writing and removing blocks to our creative expression. Her first book Soul Purpose provides practical exercises, meditations and visualisations for those wishing to develop their full potential. She lives in South London and is currently completing her second book. Jacob Ross is a novelist, journalist, academic and poet. Born in Grenada, he has been resident in Britain since 1984. He was formerly Editor of Artrage, Britain's leading intercultural arts magazine and currently lectures in creative writing and international literature in England and abroad. He is the author of Song for Simone, a searching exploration of Caribbean childhood and A Way to Catch the Dust, a story about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary moments. He also runs regular workshops at Centerprise Literature Development Project. Saturday October 11; Sunday October 12; Saturday October 18; Sunday October 19 10.30am - 4.30pm Clapham Library, 1 Northside, Clapham Common, London SW4 £40/£20 concession BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BLACK INC

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BLACK INC

REAL PEOPLE

PERSONAL POLITICAL

Personal stories - developing non fiction (Please note that this workshop is for women only)

Personal stories, political imperatives - talk and discussion

This afternoon workshop for women focuses on ways to go about writing real life stories and exploring the potential impact on the subject, author and reader, in terms of personal and social empowerment. This is a participative event in which those involved will be asked to think about a real life story - of their own or someone they know why they would want to tell it, how they would tell it and what they think the reader might gain from it. Participants will be taken through a process from conception of non-fiction writing to actual publication; including finding a subject, researching, interviewing and structuring the story.

On either side of the Atlantic, Joan Blaney and Janis F. Kearney are both publishing non-fiction accounts of real life stories as a way of engaging social and political dialogue. These stories document the lives of others as a source of inspiration for all of us. Kearney's own journey, from the cotton fields of the Arkansas delta to the White House in Washington, is mirrored by Blaney's accounts of women who have made the journey, in her own words, from kitchen sink to boardroom table. This is where the personal truly becomes political. In this conversation chaired by Kadija George, Blaney and Kearney will introduce their respective projects, read excerpts and discuss their approach to writing non-fiction. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

Facilitator: Joan Blaney Joan Blaney CBE was born in Kingston, Jamaica and has been living in England since she was a child. She is the author of Hidden Lights: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives and co-author of From Kitchen Sink To Boardroom Table with Professor Richard Scase, published by BlackAmber this autumn. Joan is also a Director of The Scarman Trust which provides people with the opportunity they need to develop their talents, encouraging individuals to contribute their skills and ideas into building healthy communities for all. Please note: Participants are encouraged to stick around to hear Joan Blaney and Janis F Kearney in conversation later in the day (see following listing).

Wednesday 22 October 2pm - 5.30pm Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, London NWW FREE BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

Readings and discussion from: Joan Blaney and Janis F. Kearney Chair: Kadija George Joan Blaney CBE was born in Kingston, Jamaica and has been living in England since she was a child. She is the author of Hidden Lights: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives and co-author of From Kitchen Sink To Boardroom Table with Professor Richard Scase, published by BlackAmber this autumn. Joan is also a Director of The Scarman Trust which provides people with the opportunity they need to develop their talents, encouraging individuals to contribute their skills and ideas into building healthy communities for all. Kadija George is a literary activist and publisher of Sable LitMag. She also edits books, which include IC3:The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain with Courttia Newland. She teaches creative writing and memoir writing to young people and adults from residential creative writing courses to festivals, such as The Arvon Foundation and Spit Lit women's literature festival. Kadija is a published and broadcast poet and short story writer and has received several awards for her work in the Creative Arts. Janis F. Kearney was born in Arkansas, USA and now lives in Chicago. She was personal diarist to President Clinton, a job that entailed chronicling the Clinton presidency on a day to day basis. Janis is a W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow and Chancellor's Lecturer for Chicago City Colleges and is currently writing From Hope to Harlem, a book that chronicles Clinton's lifelong involvement in America's historical race problems. Her book Cotton Field of Dreams is a memoir which centres around her childhood. This is her first visit to London.

Wednesday 22 October 7.30pm Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, London NW10 FREE All welcome BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

IN ASSOCIATION WITH RAW MATERIAL

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BORDERS CHARING CROSS ROAD, AWARDS FOR ALL, BBC LONDON AND HERITAGE ROYAL MAIL

MUSO JOURNO

ONE LETTER

A practical introduction to music journalism for 15-18 year olds

One Letter is Spread the Word's letter writing competition in collaboration with the artists FrenchMottershead which was launched in April and closed for entries on 1 July 2003

You buy the magazines and listen to the radio and you're beginning to think that maybe you can do better than them. Who? Music journalists, that's who. Find out what it means to be a music journalist, how you can earn your living as one and get started in the business on this practical three day course. You will learn the fundamentals of being a writer, what the differences are between writing for magazines and radio and what you should be reading to help you achieve success. The course also offers the exciting opportunity to spend a day at the BBC's new digital radio station, Radio 1Xtra and go to a live gig and review a DJ set. Outline of the course: Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

Nuts & Bolts of music journalism Day at Radio 1Xtra Live gig Write up the review

The response has been great, with over five hundred entries. The judges, Patricia Brewerton, Rebecca French, Roddy Lumsden, Andrew Mottershead and Leone Ross have been hard at work. The winners and the highly commended entrants will read their letters at a showcase to mark the end of the competition in the Mount Pleasant postal sorting office. As well as hearing some of the letters entered to the competition there will be an introduction to the Royal Mail archive and collections which is stored at Mount Pleasant, a short film screening and a chance to hear how the artists FrenchMottershead are collaborating with the overall winner of the competition to make a 'mail artwork'. Listen out for the winning letter on Word for Word this autumn on BBC London. To read the winning entries go to the Wordstore online at:

Tutor: Acyde www.spreadtheword.org.uk Acyde is a freelance journalist who has written for Straight No Chaser, The Telegraph and Lowdown magazines. He is also a DJ and consultant for members of London's HipHop community and works actively as part of the London based, worldwide affiliated Blacktronica crew, a loose collective of artists, musicians, DJs, writers and photographers pushing forward new possibilities for Black art and music. He is currently writing pilot scripts for MTV and contributing to The Fader and Spinemagazine.com - an online HipHop magazine. Monday 27 October: 12 - 5pm Wednesday 29 October: 10.30 - 5pm Wednesday 29 October: 7pm onwards Friday 31 October: 12 - 5pm Please note: the course takes place during Lambeth schools Raw Material, Music and Media Centre, 2 Robsart Street, London SW9 £5 BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED

Word for Word is the place to be every Sunday evening from 5pm with Dotun Adebayo on BBC London 94.9FM if you enjoy the written and spoken word. From best selling authors to performance poetry, lyrics to reviews - whether you read or write - don't lift a page without us! Saturday 1 November 3.30-5pm Search Room, Heritage Royal Mail, f reeling House, Phoenix Place, Mount Pleasant, London WC1X FREE (advance booking necessary as places are strictly limited) BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

IN ASSOCIATIO

THE DAIWA FOUNDATION

HAIKU AND ORIGAMI

RESIDENT

An introduction to making haiku and origami

Writers residencies - readings and discussion

Long conversations beside blooming irises joys of life on the road Basho

Aimed at experienced writers who have developed writing on residency schemes, or for those who would like to do so in the future, this open discussion and selection of readings gathers together six writers who have been working in a diverse range of settings including a hotel, a tattoo parlour, a medical school, Universities and the Transport Museum.

Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that consists of 3 lines of 5,7 and 5 syllables. Origami is the art of paper folding. Through readings, group discussion, a ginko - a haiku walk - and live demonstrations, this one-day workshop will introduce participants to the art of making haiku and origami and show how the two can be combined to create visually striking objects. Participants are welcome to bring haiku poems they have already written for feedback as well as paper they would like to use to create origami objects.

This event aims to understand how residencies work at the moment and what writers want from residency programmes in the future. • • • •

How do you go about getting a residency? What are they good for? What are the different kinds of benefits for the writer and the host? How do residencies differ from bursaries?

Spread the Word will provide all art materials where necessary. Tutors: Paul Conneally and Miki Miyara Paul Conneally is a haiku poet, artist and Education & Regional Director of the World Haiku Club. His haikai poetry is published widely throughout the world and his work has been translated into Japanese, French, and Croatian. He is editor of the World Haiku Review 'Haibun Section' and was Director of the First Global Haiku Tournament last year. He has a particular interest in working with Japanese prints and running haiku workshops that involve interaction with Ukiyo-e (woodblocks). He was haiku poet in resident at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery in 2001. Miki Miyara is a fine artist currently studying for her MA in Sculpture at Wimbledon School of Art. Her most representative works to date are airy installations of flowing landscapes made of paper which she creates using a traditional technique of origami. In May this year she was commissioned by The Pump House Gallery in London to create a fantasy garden of flora and fauna and she is currently exploring landscapes in other forms such as computer animation. Saturday 15 November 10am - 5pm Daiwa Foundation, Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 £15/£8 concession BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

There will be a chance to hear writing developed on residency schemes, an opportunity to share your experiences and to put your questions to the panel. The event will also see the launch of Arts Council of England's Writers in Residence Guidelines for London and free copies will be available. Readings and discussion from: Patience Agbabi, Rukhsana Ahmad, Carol Clewlow, Abe Gibson, Aamer Hussain and Roddy Lumsden Patience Agbabi is a poet respected for her lively performances and innovative publications. In 1999 she was in-house poet at The Poetry Cafe and Flamin' Eight, a tattoo, piercing and clothing studio in North London. Both residencies were part of the Poetry Society's Poetry Places Scheme. In 2001 she was poet-in-residence at the Schools of Humanities and Healthcare at Oxford Brookes University. She lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Cardiff and is currently working on her third collection, Body Language. Rukhsana Ahmad is an award winning writer, playwright and translator. She has written and adapted plays for the stage and for the BBC. Her first novel, The Hope Chest, was well received and she is currently working on a second, For All My Sins, and a stage play, The Man who refused to be God. Rukhsana has been writer in residence at the Cleveland Writing Project, London Borough of Harrow, and also with Newcastle Multilingual Writing Residency. She is currently a Royal Literary Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London. Carol Clewlow is a novelist who has worked as a writer with a genetics research institute, a medical school, Orange, Common Purpose the business leadership organisation and Nexus which runs the Tyneside Metro. She is currently artist in residence for Operating Theatre which brings together writers, members of the performing arts and the medical profession to produce drama for teaching purposes. Her four novels include the best-selling

FIRST LINE

A Woman's Guide to Adultery and the Whitbread-shortlisted Keeping the Faith. Abe Gibson is a London-born poet, storyteller and fulltime caretaker with Hackney Council. He is the winner of The Voice Poet of the Year Awarded performed at the Cheltenham Literary Festival in 2002. He has been writer in residence at Feltham Young Offenders Institution. Abe was a member of the Brothaman Poetry Collective and his poetry collection Violently Tender has recently been republished. Performing at Word for Word last year, he was spotted by a representative from the London Museum of Transport where he has been writer in residence for the last year. Aamer Hussain was born in Karachi in 1955. He moved to London in the 1970s. He has published three volumes of stories; Mirror to the Sun, This Other Salt, and most recently the highly acclaimed Turquoise. Aamer Hussein has taught at many universities, and was the Southern Arts Postcolonial Writing Fellow at Southampton University in Spring 2000. He is due to take up a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship this autumn at Imperial College, where he will be Writer in Residence in the Department of Civil Engineering. Roddy Lumsden is a writer and puzzle compiler. His first book Yeah Yeah Yeah was shortlisted for several prizes. His second collection The Book of Love was a PBS Choice and shortlisted for the 2000 TS Eliot Prize and John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. As 'poet-in-residence' to the music industry he co-wrote The Message. His third collection Roddy Lumsden is Dead was published in 2001. He recently completed a residency at the St Andrews Bay spa and golf resort with a new pamphlet The Bubble Bride. He is currently working on Vitamin Q, a book of trivia and reference. Thursday 4 December 7.30pm Spread the Word, 77 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 FREE (advance booking necessary as places are strictly limited)

BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

This course, aimed at people who have recently begun writing poetry or would like to start, offers participants the chance to get a thorough grounding in the essentials Taking as a starting point poetry that inspires you, the tutor will look at ways to develop your own poetry including how to master technique and form and focus on ways to redraft your work. Through group discussion and practical exercises participants will also be encouraged to think about how their own experiences can be used to make their poems original and striking. The ways in which poems have a life of their own after being written, either in performance or publication, will also be explored. Should either of these routes appeal to you, advice will be given on how best to present your work. Tutor: Paul Farley Paul Farley was born in Liverpool and studied at the Chelsea School of Art. His first collection, The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You, won a Forward Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. He was named Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year in 1999, and was writer-in-residence at The Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere from 2000-2002, before taking up a lectureship at Lancaster University. His second collection with Picador, The Ice Age, was a Poetry Book Society Choice and won the 2002 Whitbread Poetry Award. He also writes for radio. Friday 9, Saturday 10, and Sunday 11 January W.30am - 4.30pm The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2 BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

IN ASSOCIATION WITH SOUTHWARK LIBRARIES

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TABERNACLE

SCI-FI AND FANTASY

COMPLETE BEGINNERS

An introduction to science fiction and fantasy writing

Writing from scratch

Science fiction and fantasy are compelling genres of literature. From J. R. R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings to William Gibson's NeuromancerVne genre is rich in otherworldly and enthralling stories. But how to get started writing in this genre? Beginning with an overview, this two day workshop will explore the difference between types of SF and fantasy and offer helpful 'do's and don't's' on characterisation, plot and scene setting. Suggestions on how to take your writing further and get published will also be looked at as well as the current state of SF and fantasy publishing in the UK and abroad. There will be the opportunity for group discussion and writing exercises and information given on activities related to writing SF and fantasy such as conventions and online writing groups.

If you have always had the itch to write but never known where to start then this is the course for you.

Suitable for all enthusiasts of SF and fantasy with some creative writing experience.

Aimed at complete beginners, this introductory writing course will acquaint participants with creative writing techniques, concentrating on imagery, sensual description and word play. Emphasis will be on providing a fun and supportive learning environment in which to begin writing poetry and prose, with guided exercises throughout. By the end of the course participants will have completed at least four pieces of work and have initiated further pieces to develop outside of the workshop. A follow up session one month after the initial workshop weekend will give participants the opportunity to re-evaluate the writing they have made and to discuss each others work.

Tutor: Liz Williams Begin the New Year with a resolution - start writing! Liz Williams is the daughter of a stage magician and a gothic novelist, and currently lives near Brighton seafront. She received a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University and her subsequent career has ranged from reading tarot cards on the Palace Pier to teaching in central Asia. Her short stories have been published in Asimov's Interzone and Visionary Tongue and she is co-editor of the recent anthology Fabulous Brighton. The Poison Master, Liz's third science fiction novel, was published by MacMillan earlier this year.

Saturday 17 & Saturday 24 January 10.30am - 4.30pm The Pod, Peckham Library, 122 Peckham Hill Street, London SE15 £30/15 concession BOOK THROUGH SPREAD THE WORD

Tutor: Judith Bryan Judith Bryan won the 1997 Saga for her first novel, Bernard and the Cloth Monkey. Her short fiction has been anthologised in Writing Women, Afrobeat, Gas and Air and Sable. Her poems have been published in IC3: The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain. In 1999 she received a London Arts Board Award for her second novel-in-progress, and the following year a Betty Trask Award. She has taught creative writing and given readings of her work at venues across the U.K. and in the U.S.A. Judith recently finished her second novel, The Bluff. She is working on her third.

Saturday January 24 & Sunday January 25 10.30am - 4.30pm Follow up session: Saturday February 21 2pm - 4.30pm The Blue Room, Tabernacle, Fowls Square, London W11 £40/£20 concessions BOOK THROUGH THE TABERNACLE ONLY ON 020 7565 7800

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

OTHER SPREAD THE WORD INITIATIVES

ALL SAINTS AND SINNERS

THE LITERATURE LIST

All Saints and Sinners is a social history project focusing on the lives of men who arrived in London's Ladbroke Grove from West Africa and the West Indies in the late 1940s. Spread the Word, in partnership with the Tabernacle and the contributors, will produce a booklet and CD Rom of interviews, testimonies and photographs to be launched in March at the Tabernacle. The project will also involve links with local schools.

The Literature List is an email listings mail base with a focus on the London scene. You can post your listings (ie. workshops, literature events, reading groups, seminars and competitions).

Supported by the Peabody Trust and Kensington and Chelsea Community Education.

Spread the Word administers the list which is used by individuals and arts organisations as a tool to promote their events. For more information on the list, and how to join, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theliteraturelist WESTWORDS

AFTER SCHOOL PROJECT

In September, Spread the Word will work with the rapper Breis and a group of 12-13 year olds on an after school creative writing project. This is a pilot project that we hope to extend in 2004. Supported by Brent Looked After Children's Unit. HOSPITAL PROJECT

In January 2004, in conjunction with Brent Emergency Care and Diagnostic Centre, Spread the Word will run a series of poetry workshops on the theme of memoir, to take place in the renal ward of the Central Middlesex Hospital in Harlesden. Supported by North and West London hospital NHS Trust.

Spread the Word is pleased to announce its association with WESTWORDS, a new literature development project for North West London. WESTWORDS has an exciting range of literature activity for you to get involved with, including creative writing workshops, readers groups and live events. The project has its own magazine 'Newspeak' which lists local opportunities and publishes the work of local writers. WESTWORDS also encompasses Hammersmith & Fulham's literature festival Wordwide and the Harrow Words Live Literature Festival. For more information go to www.brandnewwriters.com or phone: 02084241076.

HOW TO FIND US

BUSES: 3,59,159,360 (Imperial War Museum or Kennington Road) 344,3, C10 (Lambeth Road) CLOSEST TUBE: Lambeth North (Bakerloo line), or Elephant and Castle (Northern/Bakerloo line)

TheDaiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

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westwards Hommersmith

CLOSEST TRAIN STATION: Waterloo (15 minute walk, or take bus 59 to Kennington Road), or Elephant and Castle (15 minute walk) n

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AWARDS FOR ALL Illustration by Ben Zuhlcke

Lambeth Libraries

SPREAD THE WORD

supports the development of new writing and live literature in London, with a focus in the South and West. We aim to create a climate of innovation and experimentation in which new literature can flourish. www.spreadtheword.org.uk

Autumn/Winter 2003/04