Hello dear newsletter subscribers!
So, you may notice that this is not a Tiny Letter. Sadly, it seems Tiny Letter is being closed down shortly, so I have decamped to Substack, which seemed like a good alternative. I must apologise if you got an email from Substack out of the blue about subscribing to this newsletter - I didn’t realise something would be automatically sent out when I imported my subscriber list, aaargh.
Anyhow, we are here now, so welcome to the Highly Irregular newsletter’s new home! The newsletter will still be Highly Irregular - in frequency and content - and is, and will always be, free, I just wanted to assure you of that.
For starters, I wanted to give you an exclusive: my brand new online masterclass, The Magic Of Collisions, has just opened for booking over at Arvon! It’s being held on Zoom at 11am-1pm UK time on Fri Jan 19th and it will be an excellent way to kickstart your New Year of Writing! Not only that, the masterclass is raising funds so that we can offer two heavily discounted places on the Short Stories & Poetry residential Arvon week I am co-tutoring in Hebden Bridge with the excellent Rachel Bower in March. So you will come away with at least 3 new drafts, and the knowledge that you are helping someone from an underrepresented community experience the magic of a week’s intensive writing. Book for the masterclass here, it’s going to be fun! https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/masterclass-the-magic-of-collisions/
Other things that are going to be fun: I am running another online writing workshop for the excellent Retreat West on Feb 10th - this one inspired by Star Trek, which I’ve never done before! (I am working on an Arts Council DYCP-funded hybrid pamphlet inspired by Star Trek so I thought I’d pass on some of that joy to all of you.) The workshop is called Going Where No Writer Has Gone Before (of course it is), no need to be a Trekkie (or even a fan of science fiction), you can find out more here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/retreatwest/1072130
And if you’re at a loose end this Tues morning, Dec 12th, at 11am UK time, I believe there are one or two places left on my Science-Flavoured Flash Fiction for Poets Zoom workshop - if you fancy trying a little flash fiction, come join us, no scientific knowledge necessary!
What else am I up to in the New Year?
Workshops & Readings
ONLINE Come join me on Zoom on Jan 22nd for a special one-off, low cost London Lit Lab workshop Permission to Write: Getting Out of Your Own Way . Tickets are £10, discounted places also available, grab yours here: https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/course/permission-to-write-getting-out-of-your-own-way/
IN PERSON Jan 10th 2024, Lumb Bank, W Yorkshire: I’m delighted to be the guest tutor on the amazing-sounding Arvon course “A cross-genre feast to feed your poems”, tutored by Helen Mort and Glyn Maxwell. More details and bursaries for the whole course here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/residential-writing-week-poetry-17/
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 Writing Day, Hebden Bridge. Details and booking here: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/arvon-live-writing-day-poetry-short-story-hybrid/
IN PERSON Arvon Residential Writing Week Mar 4th-8th – Poetry & Short Stories, Hebden Bridge, 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…
Thank you for reading, as ever - and have a wonderful & peaceful festive season!
Tania x