A one-day workshop as part of the Penzance Literary Festival

10 am –4 pm

Tickets £40 in advance from Redwing Gallery, or Eventbrite:

Wild Words: Techniques to Liberate your Writing and Storytelling. Tickets, Tue 12 Jul 2022 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

As writers, storytellers and poets our task is to find ways to express what is beyond words, to make people see differently and to convey the vastest via the smallest signs – those ink marks on the page. This is a practical day brim full of small writing experiments to help you achieve that.

Bridget will begin with the premise that storytelling is fundamental to organismic self-regulation; through it, human beings survive, and thrive.

We’ll look at the (often unconscious) structures and techniques that we apply when telling effective stories, as well as gain an equal understanding of what, at times, sabotages that process.

Turning traditional creative writing on its head, rather than just applying ‘fixes’ on the page, you’ll be encouraged to reconnect with your embodied experience as a starting point for investigating a range of subjects including sensory impressions, body sensations, emotion, point of view, the narrative arc, rhythm, tension, voice, character and dialogue.

It’s a day designed to help you develop your love of word crafting and give you confidence in your natural storyteller abilities.

Freeing up creativity in our writing and speaking

A talk by Bridget Holding, followed by Q&A session

Monday 11th July, Doors open 6:00 pm for 6:30 pm

The Redwing Gallery,

Penzance, Cornwall

£7 in advance from Redwing Gallery, or Eventbrite:

From Block to Flow: freeing up creativity in our writing and speaking. Tickets, Mon 11 Jul 2022 at 18:00 | Eventbrite

Human beings tell and write stories naturally and without effort. Words and imagination often do more than help us thrive: they save our lives. So why is it that we sometimes can’t find what to say, end up with uncompleted projects in a drawer or just feel dissatisfied with the results of our word-crafting? This is an exploration of block and flow by psychotherapist, writer and founder of Wild Words Bridget Holding. How can we find our voices and the stories we need to tell? And how can we make sure we finish what we start…?

Transform your experience into poetry

Sunday 12th June 2022

10am- 5pm

Studio 34 - Integrative Arts Psychotherapy space

Bickerton House, Bickerton Road

Archway, London. N19 5JT

Cost: £80. A limited number of concessionary places are available.

Please contact hello@wildwords.org to book your place, or for further information.

Using a process known as ‘found verse’ Bridget will facilitate a safe group space in which, using verbatim words as a basis, you’ll transform experiences – from joyful to traumatic – into spoken and written poems.

In the process, we’ll share experiences, track down our authentic voice and discover the stories we truly need to tell. You’ll come away with both individually and collaboratively crafted work.

To support this process there will be readings of inspirational poems and art, montage and body awareness exercises.

Bridget will address subjects including sensory impressions, body sensations, emotion, point of view, the narrative arc, rhythm, tension, voice, character and dialogue, form, working with personal and/or traumatic material, and the role of storytelling in enabling human beings to survive and thrive.

We’ll explore the (often unconscious) structures and techniques that, when we sit down to write, creates the idea of ‘block’, as well as gain an equal understanding of how to arrive at ‘flow’.

By the end of the workshop you’ll have used the smallest signs to covey the most vast, transformed the unspeakable into words, and laughed a great deal with like-minded souls.

Some parts of the day will take place in the nearby park or heath. Please bring coldproof, waterproof clothing, writing materials (laptops welcome but please also bring hand writing materials) and lunch. Tea/coffee and cake will be provided. No previous familiarity (or confidence) with words is required! Suitable for your own creative/therapeutic exploration as well as for therapists/teachers wishing to develop skills for client, student and patients groups.

‘The One True Word Project’ and the process known as ‘found verse’ was developed by psychotherapist, writer and founder of Wild Words Bridget Holding in response to distressing world situations. It offers safe group spaces, word-crafting skills and a public platform to enable the processing of emotion and the communicating of experience through words. The project publishes poetry and short prose online. Work is also read aloud on the ground where it has been written, and sent in letter form to interested parties.

The day will focus on transforming personal experience into poetry, and will include many examples of the inspiring words of others. We'll use 'found verse' as a gateway into learning techniques and exploring block and flow in writing. All skills are transferable into other genres of writing.

Bring your own drinks, snacks and lunch. Some parts of the day will take place outdoors, so come with cold-proof, waterproof clothing. Also bring writing materials – laptops are welcome but please also bring hand writing materials.

No previous familiarity (or confidence) with words is required! The day is suitable for your own creative/therapeutic exploration as well as for therapists/teachers wishing to develop skills for client, student and patients groups.

If you need accomodation for the night(s) before or after the workshop, let us know, and we can arrange that for you. And if you’d like any individual tuition while you’re here, Bridget would be happy to talk about that.