This workshop with author Rashed Aqrabawi is for writers who write or are curious about writing poetry and prose. It is focused on the instincts that go into writing. It poses questions about ‘form’ or ‘genre’, the way either can both limit and liberate.  

What will you do in the workshop?

The workshop will feature dialogue and discussion in and around the process of writing. It will engage with the idea of mystery, as the poet Carl Phillips put it, the idea that much of what writing is dealing comes from a mysterious source. Participants should expect a series of exercises that move between prose and poetry, taking the sentence as the vehicle, the line. They should expect an atmosphere of open discussion throughout. Participants are not expected to bring their own work for criticism, but there will be a writing exercise, followed by a critique. Some of the exercises will be tactile, meaning participants will be expected to engage with different materials, from text to images. 

What can participants expect?

Exercises will focus on the ‘unmaking’ of writing as a way of seeing how we arrived there. The point is to not to see what divides them, but what sensibilities each draws out of the writer––and the reader.  

We will look at writers like Marguerite Duras, Clarice Lispector, Jamaica Kincaid, Julio Cortazar, Tove Ditlelvsen, Frank O’ Hara, Eileen Myles, Diane Seuss, Ghayath Al Madhoun.  

Who is this opportunity for?

Open to everyone, with the workshop particularly meaningful to poets and writers of prose, or those looking to develop and engage in a more exploratory approach to writing.  

About Developing Tutors 

Developing Tutors offers new and established writers their first opportunity to teach a creative writing workshop with enhanced support from lesson planning to delivery. Following an open call in April 2024, Spread the Word selected 7 workshop ideas from over 40 applications. The workshops will run up to February 2025 and if successful, there will be another open call in 2025. 

Bursary Places 

We have 5 free bursary places for each Developing Tutors workshop available to those who cannot afford the price of a ticket, allocated on a first come first served basis. Please email [email protected] stating which event you would like to attend for free and if we are able to offer you a place we will. Due to availability, we can only accept one bursary request per person for the series of workshops.

Access Notice 

• If you require BSL interpretation to take part, please email us at [email protected] by Monday 10 July and we’ll try to secure BSL interpretation for you. Spread the Word will cover this cost.

• We’ll send through any reading seven days in advance. We can create adapted handouts to writers attending our workshops and events by request.

• If you have additional access needs or questions, please email us on [email protected]