WRITING DOWN DEEP – an Alchemy of the Writing Life

The talk on February 25 by Jan Fortune as she launched her book on writing was totally inspiring, and had the audience spellbound with its insights, suggestions and ideas – leading to a plethora of questions from the floor.

Jan’s son Rowan, himself an author and editor, interviewed Jan, giving a framework to the evening.

Digging deep, letting the story take you, becoming your story, not being bogged down by ‘end gaining’, writing with joy and freedom, being generous to (and curious about) yourself and your characters, using exercises and journalling…

I for one will definitely read the book and take Jan’s advice!

Events

Tuesday September 8 at West Greenwich Library: ‘As it Must’ – poetry with Gale Burns, Golnoosh Nourpanah and Jocelyn Page

Come and join me to hear these three impressive diverse voices. Here’s a bit about them…

Gale Burns has lived in Forest Hill for several decades. He has won two international awards for poetry and his publications include three pamphlets and a collection called Mute House, published by Eyewear. Gale’s work has been translated into several European languages as well as Arabic, and he has been poet in residence at Lewisham Hospital, Sydenham Arts Festival, and Kingston University. He is one of the founders of the Shuffle Poetry reading series and a member of Poets for the Planet. He will be launching As it Must, his latest collection recently published with Kingston University Press. www.galeburns.co.uk

Golnoosh Nourpanah is an Iranian-British writer, lecturer, and tarot reader. Golnoosh has a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing and teaches this topic at Birkbeck. She is the author of The Ministry of Guidance and Other Stories (2020) and Rocksong (2021). Golnoosh’s poetry pamphlet Impure Thoughts came out with Verve Poetry Press in 2022 and was shortlisted for the Live Canon Pamphlet Competition. She has performed her work at literature festivals and events across the UK and internationally. Her work has also been published by Granta, Vintage, and Columbia Journal. https://www.golnooshnour.com

Jocelyn Page is a poet from Connecticut, USA, living in London. She has published in various journals including The Spectator, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry Salzburg, South Carolina Review and Poetry Review. Her debut pamphlet, smithereens, was published in 2010 by tall lighthouse press and in 2016 her You’ve Got to Wait Till the Man You Trust Says Go was the winner of the Goldsmiths’ Writer Centre’s inaugural Poetry Pamphlet award. Jocelyn is the Resident Creative Consultant at Greenpeace International. She teaches English and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College and the University of London Worldwide. http://www.jocelyn-page.com

A free event, all welcome (7 for 7.30). Fully accessible venue. Refreshments (donations welcome) and books on sale.

Next events:

Tuesday October 6: Blake Morrison

Tuesday November 10: Pindrop Press Poets – Sharon Black, Alex Josephy and Emily Wills