Life Matters – a Life Writing Weekend Residential at Mendham Mill, April 13-15, 2012.
Our course tutor will be Lynne Rees, poet, novelist, narrative non-fiction writer and award winning creative writing tutor. This will be our fourth residential at this inspirational venue. Our past participants have said,
‘I loved all of it…the food was lovely, the setting is perfect – very restful and peaceful…’
‘A wonderful weekend again with you and Bronwen the perfect hosts. You anticipated our needs at every stage and the food was delicious and plentiful. Thank you.’
You are welcome to come and share these brilliant weekends with us.
Life Matters by Lynne Rees
It used to be a joke among my students, when I was teaching at the University of Kent, that I couldn’t get through a seminar without mentioning food or drink. It’s not that I planned to write or talk about eating and drinking but somehow either one or the other managed to push their way into an exercise or the seminar discussion.
I love eating; good meals with family and friends are my recipe for joy. Food turns up every now and then in my poetry collection. It nurtures the main character in my novel. But it was only when I decided to write memoir that it became a guiding principle, and the hungry writer blog was born.
Life Writing can be intimidating. Where do we start? What do we include or leave out? How can we make the ordinary experiences from our lives matter to other people? Over the course of the weekend we’ll use practical writing exercises to uncover themes and ideas that are important to us and explore different ways of ‘housing’ them in our writing. We’ll look at the different effects of prose and poetry and how other writers have shaped the material from their own lives. Sessions of dedicated writing time, in the tranquil and reflective atmosphere of the Mill, will encourage everyone to create at least one new piece of work in draft form that can continue to be developed and/or expanded in the future.
Costs (2012) based on single occupancy of each double room:
Double room with en-suite in The Miller’s House: £320 (if booked before 31 January: £288)
Top floor double room with share of bath/shower room in The Miller’s House: £305 (if booked before 31 January: £275)
Ground floor double room with share of bath/shower room in The Miller’s House: £290: (if booked before 31 January: £260)
Double room with share of bath/shower room in Mill Race Cottage: £305 (if booked before 31 January: £275)
Double room with share of bath/shower room in Mill Race Cottage: £305 (if booked before 31 January: £275)
Non-residential participant: £130
