Dear highly irregular subscribers,
Happy New Year! I do like the feeling of newness that comes when we turn Time’s page to a fresh sheet, not for making resolutions really, but just to take a breath and allow myself to see who the me of 2024 might want to be. I realised as I watched writers on social media talking last month about where they’d had stories/poems etc.. published in 2023 that for the first time in 15 years or so, I had no stories or poems published last year, because I hardly sent anything out (I have one new flash story that I love, but no-one else seems to feel that love – so far!).
This made me stop and think, because submitting work to lit mags and competitions had always been a huge and important part of my writing life, and acceptances and successes in comps had been amazing shots of validation and permission for me. Clearly, without me noticing it, something shifted last year and maybe I don’t need that validation and permission in that way anymore. I was writing a lot, but partly I was working on finishing a novel and starting a new one, and partly the other short pieces I am writing are ones I don’t want to show anyone yet. I want, for the first time, to keep them to myself. Noticing that was really interesting for me.
(Yes, I did also put together and publish a whole book last year – the FUEL charity flash fiction anthology – so there was something of mine (and 75 other brilliant writers) out in the world!)
All this to say, that was what 2023 Writer Me needed, and I am open to seeing what 2024 Writer Me wants...which is likely to shift and change daily, if not hourly! What might 2024 You want? Do you want to start your Year of Writing with a bang? Join me for my Zoom Arvon masterclass on Fri Jan 19th, The Magic Of Collisions, and you’ll leave with at least 4 new pieces, as well as ideas for ways to get your creative muscles flexed! You’ll also be helping to raise funds to subsidise two places for writers from underrepresented communities on the Poetry & Short Stories residential Arvon course I’m teaching with Rachel Bower in Hebden Bridge in March – booking now open!
And then three days later, on Monday Jan 22nd, come and explore what your personal writing habits and taboos might be, and whether you want to break them, at my special one-off £10 London Lit Lab Zoom workshop on Permission To Write: Getting Out Of Your Own Way (7pm-8.30pm UK time). Let’s see what 2024 Writer You wants to experiment with this year!
I’ve also started a new series #FromMyShelves over on Instagram where I pick a book each week from my own bookshelves that I love, and that means something to me, and to perhaps introduce you to some writers you might not be familiar with. The first pick, for the letter A, is Seeing Stars by Simon Armitage, which had a huge impact on my writing life – read all about it here!
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I’ve got quite a bit of teaching lined up this year – here’s how my 2024 looks so far:
Workshops & Readings
ONLINE Sat 10th Feb 11.30am – 1.30pm UK time Going Where No Writer Has Gone Before writing workshop inspired by Star Trek, to free yourself from the constraints of reality as we know it! Non-Trekkies welcome too: tickets £10 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/retreatwest/1072130?
FEW PLACES LEFT ONLINE 19 Feb - 31 March Let’s Get Hybrid! a 6-week Zoom-based course to introduce you to hybrid writing, letting go of labels, genres, definitions, and writing what you want to write in the way you want to write it. Bursaries available, find out more about the course here: https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/course/lets-get-hybrid-live-on-zoom/
IN PERSON March 3rd Arvon Live Writing Day Poetry, Short Stories & Hybrids , Hebden Bridge. Details and booking here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/arvon-live-writing-day-poetry-short-story-hybrid/
IN PERSON Mar 4th-8th – Poetry & Short Stories residential Arvon course, with my wonderful co-tutor Rachel Bower and special guest Hafsah Aneela Bashir. Details and booking here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/residential-writing-week-poetry-short-story/
ONLINE WORKSHOP April 12th Arvon Write A Short Story In A Day. Does what it says on the tin, details and booking here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/online-writing-day-short-story/
Coming soon: Mslexia Salon Hybrid Writing workshop, poetry reading in Winchester…
And don’t forget you can use the coupon code “tinyletter10” in the shop on my website to get 10% off copies of my latest books and a few others I still have some copies of. You can also pick up a copy of the FUEL anthology but that won’t be discounted because it’s raising money for fuel poverty charities. (Let me know if the coupon code isn’t working for you, it can be tricksy!)
Happy new year of reading and writing!
Tania x