THIS COURSE IS NOW SOLD OUT.
Please join the Waitlist on Eventbrite to be notified if any spaces become available.
We still have availability on a few of our other Spring Term Evening Courses.
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Day: Wednesdays
Dates: 24 January – 20 March 2024 (1 x week break for Half Term – Wednesday 14 February)
Time: 18:00 – 20:00
Level: Beginners
Tutors: Astrid Alben and Astra Papachristodoulou
Location: 124 Kennington Park Road, London, SE11 4DJ
Cost: £200
COURSE OVERVIEW
This creative writing course, directed at visual artists and art enthusiasts, introduces literary techniques that can be connected to art-making or responding to art. In this 8-week course, you will explore collage, fragmentation, notebook-scavenging, erasure, flash fiction, concrete poetry, lyric essay and other forms and devices that will expand your imagination and hone your skills in a supportive workshop setting.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Most traditional creative writing workshops are limited by genre: fiction, poetry, playwriting and creative nonfiction. This course, by contrast, favours a multi-genre, fluid approach that can incorporate ‘outside’ disciplines such as philosophy, memoir, criticism and – in particular – visual art.
The course is directed at artists, art enthusiasts and writers hoping to innovate their practice. In these 8 workshops, you will be introduced to literary techniques with affinities to art making and art writing. Among the topics we will explore are collage, fragmentation, notebook-scavenging, erasure, flash fiction, concrete poetry and lyric essays.
Astrid and Kathryn are acclaimed poets who work innovatively across genres. Teaching alternating weeks, they will provide a supportive and interactive workshop environment that will include a combination of tutor and peer feedback.
By the end of the course, you will have learned new techniques, developed confidence in your writing, and acquired a portfolio of new written material.The course is suitable for all levels of writers, artists and creative thinkers. Some knowledge of art and literature is recommended.
All you need for class each week is a pen, a notebook and your imagination.
ABOUT THE TUTORS
Astrid Alben is a poet, editor and translator. She is the author of three poetry collections, Ai! Ai! Pianissimo, Plainspeak and Little Dead Rabbit, which is also published in Dutch by PoëzieCentrum. Her translation of Anne Vegter’s Island glacier mountain won an English PEN Translates Award in 2022. She has worked with BBC Radio and Wellcome Collection, and with performance and animation. Alben was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in 2014 for her work across the arts and sciences with PARS, an arts and sciences initiative she founded in 2002. She is currently working on a lyrical essay and the international editor for Prototype Publishing. www.astridalben.com | @AstridAlben
Astra Papachristodoulou holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Surrey. Her practice-based doctoral project at Surrey was funded by the Doctoral College Studentship Award and explored sculptural poetics as a revolutionary act in the context of the Anthropocene. She is a widely published author with work featured in UK and international magazines including The Times, Magma Poetry and BeeCraft. Astra is the author of several books including Stargazing (Guillemot Press), and her work has been translated into Turkish, Korean, German, Russian, Slovenian and Spanish.
Astra currently works at The Poetry Society’s Poetry Review. She is also the founder of Poem Atlas, and has curated several visual poetry exhibitions across the UK. She won the Pebeo Mixed Media Art Prize in 2016, and her visual poetry work has been showcased at venues such as the National Poetry Library, Kew Gardens and Christie’s, London. www.astranaut.co.uk
15% discount available for City & Guilds of London Art School students, alumni and staff. Contact eveningcourses@cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk to receive the discount code.
Please note: in accordance with Eventbrite’s Terms of Service, Eventbrite’s fees are non-refundable. Any refunds made for Evening Course bookings will have Eventbrite’s fees deducted, unless we cancel the course. For more information, please see our terms and conditions.
Image credit: Text Astrid Alben, Graphic design Zigmunds Lapsa.