If you are in Brighton on Monday March 7th....COME TO A FREE HISTORY WRITING WORKSHOP

I'm running an all day workshop (starting at a civilised 10.30 am - it's Monday morning after all) that is part of a Heritage funded project to record and recreate the history of Tarner, the working class district in the centre of Brighton near the Pavilion.
Together we will look at the role of women in a world that's now vanished. The atmosphere will be warm and supportive - you don’t have to be an experienced writer to take part (or female!)
I chose the date because it is the day before international women's day which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.

No need to book just turn up at Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project at 6 Tilbury Place, off Carlton Hill. Brighton BN2 0GY 

FREE creative writing workshops in Brighton

I am writer in residence on Tarner Stories, an exciting Heritage funded local history project. We are working with individuals and communities recording and recreating the stories of those that have lived and worked in a working class area in the heart of Brighton on the south coast...and I have two workshops coming up.
They are free. They will be fun. And they will certainly be different (as much as I like alliteration couldn't think of another approriate F word) 

PLUS...work produced may be published on the Tarner Stories website or in the book we will bring out in Spring 2012.

Want any more reasons for coming along? There's a free creche at the Centre and they serve up a nifty vegan lunch for £1.50. It just gets better and better doesn't it? Don't keep it to yourself.  Please pass this information on to anyone who might be interested. (Did I mention it's free?)

Inspired by History

Monday February 7

10.30 am --- 3 pm

Together we will use the material produced by the oral history project to kickstart ideas and help us weave stories about the people who once lived and worked in the streets surrounding the Centre. We will write non fiction that brings the past to life and create poetry and stories that gives a feel of a time that has now vanished. The atmosphere will be warm and supportive - you don’t have to be an experienced writer to take part

Inspired by Women

Monday March 7

10.30 am – 3 pm

2011 marks the centenary of International Women’s Day which this year is on Tuesday March 8. To mark this special occasion we are running a workshop the day before to focus on the lives of Tarner women, turning history into herstory. Through the resources produced by the Tarner History Project we will  explore the struggles, concerns and achievements of local women of previous generations. Everyone – male and female, experienced writers and absolute beginners – very welcome. We will be writing fiction, non fiction and poetry.

*Tarner is an area in central Brighton mentioned in Graham Greene's Brighton Rock. Teenager Pinky is a violent gang leader - Tarner was the area he grew up in and where he never wanted to return

NO NEED TO BOOK JUST TURN UP AT BUCFP - Tilbury Place, off Carlton Hill.
Find out more about the project by clicking onto the title of this post

Join me on WALK,TALK AND WRITE a creative guided tour of Brighton

This is something different. Local history + a gentle stroll + creative writing. What's not to like...
AUGUST 9th 10am to 12.30
It starts and ends at Brighton Unemployed Centre in Tilbury Place, off Carlton Hill - just by the American Express building. It is part of TARNER STORIES, a project funded by Heritage Lottery that explores an area rich in working class history.
It's a hilly walk - this is Brighton: there's no getting away from that - but the pace is easy and there will be time to stop and stare and share stories. We will hear about Miss Tarner, walk on Victorian red brick pavements, see where a farm was operating in the heart of Brighton only 40 years ago and spot some fine examples of  bungaloosh - a uniquly Brighton building material.
AND I will be setting creative writing exercises along the way and back at the Centre.
I've never done anything like this before - bet you haven't either.
No need to book - just turn up. No need to go to the cash point - it's free. But do get in contact if you want to find out more

Open Day July 15 TARNER STORIES

I'm part of an exciting new project that launches on Thursday afternoon at  Brighton Unemployed Centre in the heart of Brighton.
We are being funded by Heritage Lottery to explore and research the past and present of Tarner (scroll down to see the map) through oral history, film, photography and creative writing.  
You can find out more by coming along on Thursday to Brighton Unemployed Centre in Tilbury Place, just off Carlton Hill, near the American Express building. 
The open afternoon runs from 1pm (stay for a filling vegan lunch for £1.50) until 4 pm when the Centre closes.
I'm writer in residence and right now I'm planning an August creative walk around the area - in the company of a local historian and an experienced healthwalks guide.
Early September there will be an one day workshop that is aimed at absolute beginners
And from the autumn the Centre's creative writing group will be working on a short drama that will roll out around Christmas time to local schools and audiences.
Nothing's written in stone but at the moment we are thinking of an Under the Milk Wood style production, telling the story of the local area through the voices of our near neighbours, the animals (and the trees and the flint walls...who knows).
It will be a steep learning curve on how to work collaboratively and still produce a drama that we all feel proud of, but the group is such a wonderful creative force that I feel very positive. 
Anyway this is a Brighton Unemployed Centre project, with the thinnest of resources they always manage to do wonderful things. 

If you live in Brighton and want to get involved do get in touch.  And if  Tarner has ever been home to you - now or in the past - do please get in touch. There's a slice of local history to be written and you can be part of it.