Writer in Residence on The Furor Scribendi a floating short story library - The most wonderful and exciting place to read, write, think, float, dream...

This week I am writer in residence on this incredible vessel.

This is Furor Scribendi. She is a floating library of short fiction. 

 

She was commissioned and funded by Super Slow Way, The Canal and River Trust, Lancashire libraries, Coventry City of Culture and British Council. For more on how this immensely exciting project came about, see this podcast from the brilliant Heather and Robin at Lancashire library Services interviewing creator artist Heather Morison.

This vessel is a piece of art; a sculpture created and brought to life by Studio Morison artists Heather Peake Morison and Ivan Morison. They have imagined and realised every aspect from the outer paint aesthetic and internal carpentry to the tiniest details on the boat. Everything about this boat is considered - it is exquisite art, yet it is all entirely functional. The attention to detail is overwhelming. I spent the first two days of my residency taking it all in. 

These are the incredibly beautiful ceramic tableware and light fittings, made from casts of detritus found in and around the canal. And painted canvas panels by Heather Morison. More on this in a future post.

Furor Scribendi will travel up and down the Leeds Liverpool canal as a library for the community. You will be able to hop on, dip into the outstanding short story collection, meet and chat with librarians, fellow community members, readers and writers, and possibly even the artists who created this gorgeous research vessel. Furor Scribendi will travel down to Coventry at the end of June for the Coventry City of Culture and return to Lancashire in the Autumn. When things start to open up a little (Please Please!), there will be a programme of events for the local community - opportunities to relax, share ideas, read and float away. 

It is an immense privilege to be the very first writer in residence on Furor Scribendi. I'm enjoying exploring the stunning and diverse short fiction on board - I am reacquainting myself with old favourites, finding new writers to love and reading writers I know I should have read by now but haven't. More on this in a later post. They have almost as many short story collections as I have at home. 

I am writing something. But I'll say a bit more about that in a separate post. 

If you'd like to see some more, we had a little feature on ITV Granada Tonight, see it here.

The launch was also covered by BBC Lancashire. See more here.

I am having a ball. I feel like the actual luckiest writer in the world. 

So... it's been a while.

Have you been waiting with baited breath. If you're still alive after baiting your breath for such a long time... more info, news, reviews and stuff coming soon. Thank you and sorry. (and thank you for stopping by!) 

The Short Story at Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk

Calling all in the North West who enjoy writing! 

This 3 session course is open to all, whether you are a new and aspiring writer or experienced and looking to further develop your writing craft... 

Held at The Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk, this course is for anyone who’d love to develop their creative writing, particularly focussing on the short story. It runs over three months giving participants time to develop their ideas.

Open to all, the sessions will be relaxed and fun with lots of writing activities and discussion. Participants will also have opportunities to share work and receive feedback in order to develop their writing.

Dates: 3 sessions accross 3 months. 20 September, 18 October & 15 November
Time: 6.30-8.30pm
Facilitated By: Sarah Schofield
Fee: £30
Age & Ability: Adult Learners
To Book: Contact the gallery, 01695 571328

Further details are available here on the website or here on The Chapel Gallery Facebook page.

I would love to see you there! Please do get in touch if you have any questions.

Sandy Lane Storytellers: Stories Are Important

This week, the Sandy Lane Storytellers Project begins - a series of creative writing workshops in community groups across the Skelmersdale area. The project, funded by the Arts Council England, with grant money secured by Friends of Sandy Lane and the Arts Development Service, focusses on the Sandy Lane shopping centre, a 1960s precinct that sits at the heart of the oldest part of Skelmersdale - and the history and heritage that underpins this community. Visual art workshops are also running in the community for the project led by fantastic artists One Red Shoe. They are blogging about the project here.

The first workshop was at Park Children's Centre's Busy Bodies Group. The numbers were a little low, due to Easter holidays. However, it was a delight to meet and chat with the folk who came along. I had planned some activities, but actually the way the session went, it felt more productive to spend the time engaging with the parents, carers and children who attended, to talk with them about their experiences of living in the Sandy Lane area, how they use the shopping centre, what things would make it better and their thoughts and reflections on community in the area. It was an important reminder that no matter what I bring along to any session, the key to this project is the people within the community and letting sessions flow from them and how they choose to engage with it.

We also shared about favourite stories. This was the conversation that really sparked people's enthusiasm. It was lovely to hear about what kind of stories the children particularly engaged with - two firm favourites being Julia Donaldson's 'The Gruffalo' and McBratney and Jeram's 'Guess How Much I Love You.' Other comments included a love of touchy-feely and lift the flap books. Everyone had something to say about the stories their children loved, and that led onto the stories they themselves love. It confirmed how important stories are for people of all ages. and how crucial storytelling is, which is really at the heart of this project - making space for people to tell their stories.  

Short Story Writers at The Bluecoat

We are now half way through the Comma Press Short Story course that I'm teaching at The Bluecoat in Liverpool. It is a joy and privilege to work with such a fantastic group of writers.

Phil Olsen, one of the writers taking part, is blogging about the course on The Bluecoat website. So if you're curious to see a little inside info about what we get up to in our workshops do have a read.

One of the loveliest aspects of this course for me is seeing how the writers in the group are supporting each other with insightful, honest and constructive feedback on each other's work, encouraging one another and getting to know each other beyond the short time we have on workshop evenings. As I've developed, and continue to develop my writing practice, having other writers to share challenges,  ideas and experiences with has been vital. And it is a joy to see the links that are being made between writers participating on the course that I hope will continue long after the workshops have finished later this year.

If you are looking to develop your short story writing, Comma Press are running two more short story courses in the near future with two brilliant writers and creative writing tutors - Michelle Green in Manchester, and Adam Marek in London. 

Sandy Lane Stories in Skelmersdale

Photograph from User Rept0n1x at Wikimedia Commons

I'm looking forward to starting a new creative project working with community groups in Skelmersdale, focussed around a shopping centre in the heart of the oldest part of the town.

Sandy Lane Shopping Centre was built in the 1960s, with all the idiosyncratic design features that come with some mid century architecture. The site has been in need of attention for some time and can appear unwelcoming as all the shops face inwards. From the outside it's a little hard to tell it is a shopping centre at all. Although once within, it is busy with friendly independent and chain businesses that are working hard to serve the needs of the community.

Skelmersdale is a large industrial town in the Northwest of England. There is much I admire about Skelmersdale, particularly in the Sandy Lane area. Skelmersdale has a rich and complex history. There is a spirit of entrepreneurialism and aspiration. The town has also endured hardship and lack of investment over the years, which has caused some social and community difficulties.

The project aims to gather stories of the history of the area to celebrate and promote its rich heritage and important place, both historically and looking to the future. I will be working alongside two fantastic artists, Fiona and Neil at One Red Shoe, to gather and share the narratives of local people and give them artistic input into the future of the shopping centre. Fiona and Neil have already been working with community members to improve the appearance of the site with striking banners.

I'm excited to begin gathering creative memories and narratives through workshops. I am hoping to learn a lot more about the history of the area from local people and together build a new story that is reflective of the diverse and optimistic future of the area.

Supported by Arts Council England grants and the Arts Development Service, The Friends of Sandy Lane are already working hard to think about how to make this area a more attractive and functional community hub. More soon on how the project develops.

Short Story Course at Bluecoat, Liverpool

I'm excited to begin teaching a new creative writing course this week at The Bluecoat, Liverpool's centre for the contemporary arts. Comma Press, in collaboration with The Bluecoat, are looking to nurture and inspire new and emerging writers from the city over this six month course.

Liverpool is renown for its hugely rich and diverse cultural mix. A wealth of creative talent continues to spring from the city. And I feel immensely privileged to work with the writers who have signed up to the course to develop and hone their short story practice. While we will, of course, explore narratives from across the world to inform our own work, I am hoping we will delve deep into much that the city has to offer - fiction, culture, art and history - using what is immediately on our doorstep. And the Bluecoat is the perfect setting for this.

The short story course is all booked up now. But you can see here for more information on other events happening at The Bluecoat and to stay up to date with future courses.

Spindles: Stories From the Science of Sleep

I've been dreaming a lot recently. Not sure why... maybe it's mince pies and mulled wines too close to bedtime.

Since researching and writing my story, 'Benzene Dreams' for the latest Comma Press anthology, Spindles, I've become increasingly aware of my sleep patterns and dreams. The book gathers scientists and writers to explore elements of sleep science at the very coal face of new research.

I feel incredibly proud and lucky to contribute to the anthology alongside writers I admire hugely. And to get the opportunity to work with Professor Bob Stickgold on his particular area of sleep research which focusses on the ways in which we solve problems through dreaming.

The collection is supported by The Wellcome Trust.

Read more and get a copy here.

Tessa Hadley at Edge Hill

I'm looking forward to hearing Tessa Hadley speak at Edge Hill Arts Centre on 18th November. I admire her writing tremendously, particularly her short fiction, and really enjoyed the serialisation of her latest novel The Past on BBC Radio 4 recently.

I have been invited to give a short reading at the event from a new collection from Comma Press to which I contributed a story. Spindles: Stories from the Science of Sleep is an anthology partnering scientists with writers to explore scientific sleep research through narrative. To be asked to read a small part of my story from the collection at Tessa Hadley's event is an honour.

For tickets and more information see the Edge Hill website.

La Nouvelle Espionage

One of my jobs for this week is to compile a killer reading list for the course that I'll be facilitating soon at Creative Industries Trafford.

La Nouvelle espionage course seeks to give writers the opportunity to create and develop a story (or stories) that they can then submit for consideration in the latest writer showcase anthology from Comma Press. Comma are seeking stories with all the tension and compelling mystery of the classic spy genre, but with a redefining of what modern spying actually is... 'from the political to the domestic, corporate to state-sponsored, private interest-led to cellular fanaticism... to meet characters we wouldn't normally meet in a spy story, to find ourselves in settings the genre has barely visited before.' No small task, but one I am sure the writers on the course will tackle head on with lots of inspiration, guidance and support from me and each other.

To be a good writer, you really must must read. I like to think of it as good nutrition. Put quality stuff in and you see the benefits. You feel stronger and better as a writer. When I'm reading, I imagine all the tiny synapses in my brain firing and making new connections and gathering the little thoughts and expressions inspired by others' work into a store to reframe and use in my own original way. Reading also makes me aware of what other writers are doing. What is the zeitgeist? What is sounding a bit cliche and old hat now? What am I reading too much about? What have I not read about in a story? Where are the gaps in which I can plant a story idea and nurture its growth?

The reading list for La Nouvelle Espionage course has been challenging to put together. Ra Page, Editor at Comma Press, has been brilliant in his suggestions. But this is very much a new genre (the clue is in the name!) The very gap in the market is perhaps a reason for its genesis. The best modern example we have come across is Joanna Quinn's 'The War of All Against All' (Beta Life, Comma Press, 2014) an imagining of the 2070 world where everything we do, buy and say, and everywhere we go is known, recorded, trackable and processed in streaming metadata. It is a brilliant and terrifying story. Please do get in touch if you have come across other great examples that seem to fit the bill.

The course is now fully booked up. But there is a waiting list in case any participants drop out. Contact CIT for more details.

Creative writing with Creative Industries Trafford

 I'm looking forward to meeting writers on the Creative Industries Trafford writing workshops starting on Tuesday. The CIT course, in partnership with Comma Press, gives new and emerging writers the opportunity to develop their craft with the aim of writing and workshopping a story for submission to the new Comma Press showcase anthology La Nouvelle Espionage.

At this first session, we will discuss the short story and explore what makes the genre unique. We will think about how we craft short stories and how they work. And we will compile a toolkit of ideas and stimuli for writing short fiction.


When I'm leading a session, I always learn so much from meeting and working with other writers. Sometimes, writing can feel like a very solitary job and it can be easy to get stuck in the same ways of thinking about and processing story. Talking to others about how we write is incredibly refreshing. Where do you get your ideas from? What is your starting point - an image, a moment, a character, a place? By unpicking the tricky knot that is story making, we can learn so much about how we tie it well. Allowing ourselves time to explore those processes, the way we form and sculpt can help reframe the way we work, giving new energy or direction.

Yesterday, I went to see my absolute writing idol, Hilary Mantel speak at MMU. She gave two readings and she answered some questions. One of the things she said about the process of writing short fiction that really resonated with me was that because of the nature of short stories, you have to battle the feeling that you are constantly observing the form; the way you are structuring the thing, and that this can be stifling. Her response to how she overcame this was ' to just write it down as if it is true. Then the form will take care of itself.'

This is something I hope to bring to the CIT course and the participants; that we will learn to write it down as if it is true, inviting our readers into the imaginary space we create. I'm really looking forward to getting started.

There are still a couple of spaces available on the course. For more information or to sign up click here. Any questions, please do get in touch!

Creative Writing at Winstanley College

This week I visited Winstanley College, Wigan, to run creative writing workshops with the students taking the Creative Writing A Level.

It is a privilege to work with these students. Winstanley is a brilliant college and the young people taking this A Level gain so much from it both directly, learning and developing their poetics and craft and also through multiple transferable skills including critical thinking, articulation of ideas, writing with clarity and mature self-reflection. It is a valuable and important addition to A Level options. Unfortunately, it is also nationally under threat.

If you believe creative writing at Further Education level has value and worth please do click here to read and sign this petition asking the Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan MP to save the Creative Writing A Level.

Festival Exhibition at Parbold Library

The Parbold Festival Exhibition is now open. Come to Parbold Library to see Sunny the Dragon and some of the stunning creative work produced by members of Parbold community during the festival.

You can also leave your responses, reflections, memories, favourite bits and suggestions for future festivals on a postcard to Tia as part of the exhibition.

Parbold Festival - a Tall Tale Told.

I can't believe the Parbold Festival was nearly a month ago already. It was an amazing event, with over 8000 people visiting, taking part and helping to make it so brilliant.

There was something magical about the whole weekend. I have met and made friends with some incredible Parbold folk.

Here are just a few photographs. They don't do it justice, but they give a flavour of the community story that was performed over the festival weekend.

The crowd gathered in front of the open air stage behind The Railway pub waiting for the storytelling to begin. Children are holding the spirit guide fish that they made at visual art workshops with Andy and Sharon, the lead artists on the project. In the story, the spirit guides help a little girl, Tia, to search for the dragon who is late for the festival.

The story begins - here is local actor and singer Anna Beaumont bringing Tia's character to life, with help from our puppet Walter, operated by local puppeteer Phil King. 

Three writers from the narrative workshops at the library read parts of the story that they have written. Excellent writing and performing from Izzie, Elaine and Lorraine (I wish I had a photo!) They are accompanied by our fantastic narrator Cath Foxon. The crowd listens in awesome silence, utterly compelled by the storytelling. Magical!

 The procession through Parbold begins. We follow Tia and the spirit guides with flags and banners in search of the dragon.

We find the dragon. Tia greets Sunny the dragon and Parbold folk meet her as we make our way back through the village to the stage where the story of Sunny the Parbold dragon continues with a quest for fruit to feed a very hungry dragon. 

On the final day of the festival, it is time for Sunny to return to her home inside Parbold Hill. We send her off with a lullaby and she makes her way back home via the canal. Wonderful boatman Keith, who is moored up in parbold, offers his boat for the job. Sunny is too big to lie across the top so here she is, her head at the front, and (off camera) her tail peeping out of the back of the barge. The bridge and canal bank are lined with Parbold folk waving goodbye to their dragon. A myth, a tall tale, brought to life in people's imaginations. You can see me in this picture (peeping out on the left), holding on to Sunny on the front, with Sharon and Andy. 

It has been an incredibly special project to work on, with a brilliant team of creative people. I feel privileged to have played a part in the creation of a tall tale that we hope will return soon! The Parbold community is something very special and unique with so many talented creative people full of enthusiasm and ideas.

To see more pictures, see the Parbold Festival Facebook page.

Creative Writing at Parbold Library

I have had the loveliest time this week with a fantastic group of writers at Parbold Library.

Over the three sessions we have explored place and character. We have captured our own stories and memories in words and created new tall tales that feed directly into the narrative that I am putting together for the Parbold Street Festival in September.

The writers were brilliant - the sort of creative people who you give a tiny nudge with a starter idea and they are already writing before you even finish explaining. We talked a lot about the process of writing - how our ideas begin to form and the images or words that lead us into our creative practice. It is always interesting to hear how differently our creativity is sparked. Almost everything written in a workshop is, by its nature and due to the time restrictions, just the smallest seedling of a story; the initial burst of energy... although during the workshops, some pieces written did have a feeling of completion about them. I really hope that the ideas and paragraphs begun during the sessions will continue to grow and develop. They deserve to.

I will be weaving the words, ideas and images written during the workshops into the final narrative and some of the participants have agreed to take part in the performance in September, sharing their creative writing on stage. I'm delighted that their work will get the audience it deserves.

 It has been a privilege working with such a lovely group. I have learnt a great deal from them. It has been a joy to share in their creativity.

I spent an afternoon at one of Parbold Festival's visual art workshops this week. It was brilliant.

The lead artists on the project, Andy and Sharon Shaw are not only utterly lovely they are also brilliant and inspiring artists and teachers.

The last time I did anything properly artsy was probably my art GCSE (where I did a charcoal portrait of my friend with an unfortunate bit of shading on the upper lip...) So I was a bit concerned that my artistic contribution wouldn't be very good. But Andy and Sharon demonstrated some art techniques that all the participants, from the youngest child to the grandparents who brought them, could grasp and experiment with. We worked on some flags for the procession, large banners and posters.

It was also lovely to meet Naomi, a fantastic artist who is helping with the project. More on her reflections on art for the Parbold Festival and her own work here.

Here are examples of some of the artwork we produced during the session.

Work-in-progress. This is watercolour and wax on
cloth. Andy and Sharon demonstrated how to colour wash
and blend the paints to create different effects. 

Work-in-progress. The dragon creature. Each
scale was individually shaded during the workshop
by artist Naomi.

The next visual art workshops are Thursday 20th and Friday 21st August,  10am - 1pm, 2pm - 5pm at the WI in Parbold. We will be creating the dragon creature - a massive sculptural structure that will process through Parbold during the Festival. The session is open to 8 yrs and up and will be inspiring for both children and adults. I'll be there - I can't wait!

Creative Writing Workshops at Parbold Library

This week I am leading three creative writing workshops in Parbold Library. Everyone is welcome! And they're free to attend. We will be thinking about tall tales, myths and exploring stories around Parbold.

It will be fun, friendly and creatively inspiring. However you feel about creative writing - whether you're a seasoned writer or reluctant to put pen to paper - we are all storytellers and this workshop will give you the opportunity to explore your own creative ideas and tales. Dates and times for the workshops are:

Monday 10th August 7 - 9 pm
Tuesday 11th August 7 - 9 pm
Thursday 13th August 7 - 9 pm

The writing workshops will feed into the narrative for the Parbold Arts and Street Festival, which is on 4th, 5th and 6th September, when there will be a procession through the village telling Parbold's tall tale, with dancing and music. It's going to be fantastic. Do come along and get involved. For details of other creative workshops you might like to get involved in, see here for a full programme of events. If you have any questions, contact the Chapel Gallery on 01695 571328.


The Parbold Arts and Street Festival is funded by grants secured by Parbold Community Association and WLBC Arts Development.

Parbold Festival Workshops with Beacon Crossing Retirement Community

This week I'm facilitating creative writing workshops at Beacon Crossing retirement community in Parbold.

The stories and ideas that the participants have been sharing are inspiring, thought-provoking and intriguing. The participants are really open to all the activities and we've done a lot of laughing over the last two days. In one of today's activities we used buttons to spark story ideas. We selected buttons from my button box (every self-respecting human should own a button box, didn't you know?) Buttons are like acorns. With some reflection time and conversation, a tiny button can grow into a garment and then a character with a complete life and personality. We talked about who might wear the garment, where the garment came from, how they feel wearing it, where they might go in it... The characters the participants created were varied and wonderfully rounded. Two characters, a naval officer and a dress maker, even began communicating with each other as we fleshed out the start of an interaction between them.

It's an absolute joy to be working with this group. They just have the best time sharing ideas and stories and have so much to contribute to the project. I feel like I'm learning a great deal from them. We have our final session on Friday - we are writing a collaborative prose poem that explores what sparks our creativity and using clocks as a stimulus to writing memoir and storytelling. The tall tale that I am curating which narrates the Parbold Festival story, about the dragon that lives under the hill, begins with the ticking of a clock, as the villagers await the dragon's arrival. I am excited to find out what ideas, words and images the Beacon Crossing writers come up with that I can weave into the final performance piece.

Parbold Arts Festival Free Visual Arts Workshops

See below for the full programme of workshops available for the Festival through summer. The visual arts workshops with Sharon and Andy Shaw will be brilliant and a perfect family activity. Hope to see you there! For more information contact The Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk: 01695 571328

Parbold Arts Festival Free Creative Writing Workshops

I am running a series of creative writing workshops as part of the Parbold Arts Festival: A Tall Tale to Tell. And they're free!

The workshops will be held at Parbold Library. Maggie and the the library team have been fantastic in helping to organise them. Their enthusiasm and passion for literature and creativity is inspiring. The workshop dates are:

Monday 10th August 7-9 pm
Tuesday 11th August 7-9 pm
Thursday 13th August 7-9 pm

Please do come along, if you are local.

I'm really looking forward to the workshops and hearing the stories that the participants create. Workshops, especially with community groups, always feel collaborative. People bring with them all sorts of experiences and perspectives that we learn from as a group. We feed each other's creativity.

Creative writing is sometimes misunderstood. There is often the notion that the best creative writers are the ones that got all the praise and attention at school. The ones that can spell perfectly and understand punctuation rules. Brilliant creative people are often put off creative writing because of these false notions.

During a creative writing workshop, I'm not interested in spelling or the function of an Oxford comma. What interests me is the small details people notice in their everyday lives. That moment they witnessed something that has stayed with them. That particular emotion they experienced that they want to capture in a few sentences because there isn't quite a single word that describes it. A story idea that has been bubbling away for a few years that they haven't quite had the confidence to start writing yet. I'm interested in the fact that if you give a group of people three unconnected words, each person will find links between those words in a unique and intriguing way. That if you ask someone to describe a room they know well, the aspects of that space that they choose to describe or jot down will be instantly emotive. We are all storytellers. And we help each other to bring those stories out. I can't wait to meet the participants who come along. I am looking forward to learning with them.

If you would like to come, or if you have any questions about the workshops, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

I'll post more soon about the free visual arts workshops that are also planned. In the meantime, here is a sketch of the dragon of Parbold Hill by one of the lead artists, Andy Shaw. Andy and Sharon, whose stunning artwork can be seen at their studio in the Millhouse, Parbold, are preparing brilliant workshops to animate the tall tale with puppets and a life sized dragon creature. I can't wait!

'Fruit Dragon' by Andy Shaw @Article fine arts, Parbold

Parbold Arts Festival is funded through grants obtained by Parbold Community Association and WLBC Arts Development team.