Writing for Resilience – October 24
Writing For Resilience – October 2024
£190-£440
Oct 3 9:30 am – Oct 7 5:00 pm
Creating your own shelter through creativity in nature.
Course Synopsis
This residential long-weekend held in the stunning mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia national park), ‘Writing for Resilience’, combines creative writing with landscape connection and mindfulness practices.
This course is rooted in the belief that cultivating creativity and personal resilience is a fundamental part of building a more socially and ecologically friendly future. We are living in a time of immense upheaval, where it is becoming harder and harder to nurture our sense of wellbeing and connection.
Developing tools to help us build a practice of grounding and joyful creativity is essential both for personal and community resilience.
Course participants will explore and develop a creative writing practice through a series of workshops designed to provide a ‘resilient writing toolkit’. This toolkit will be taught and practiced over the weekend, with the view that it can be taken and used as a resource for continuing your creative practice in the future.
This isn’t your average writing retreat! We want to give you a set of skills that will accompany and support you throughout your life, enabling you to connect to the land around you and foster a sense of belonging.
No prior writing experience is needed to participate – seasoned writers and total beginners are all welcome.
Workshop Content
The Writing for Resilience workshops will include:
- Writing practices inspired by the surrounding mountains and ancient woodlands
- Independent creative writing practices
- Collaborative writing practices
- Group sharing, reflection and feedback sessions
- Mindfulness and creativity in nature workshops led in and around the Nantmor valley
And more! (Plus food from some incredible local chefs)
Key Information
- Thursday 3rd – Monday 7th October, 2024.
- Arrival on the evening of Wednesday the 2nd of October.
- The course will begin at 9.30am on Thursday the 3rd.
- Location: Nantmor, Gwynedd
- Residential students (both camping and bunkhouse) will be staying at the beautiful Tan Y Rhiw barn
- All meals will be provided for from Thursday – Monday, but students will need to provide their own dinner on the Wednesday evening when they arrive.
Please note: if you are booking a ‘barn’ ticket with a partner or a friend, please send us an email to let us know for accommodation reasons!
Ticket Types
Early Bird – £390
We’re offering a limited number of early bird residential tickets at a discounted price, these tickets will be first come first served. Accommodation will be provided in the barn.
Pay it Forward – £440
For those who feel they can afford a little extra, our pay it forward tickets help to subsidise the fees of those who can only access our courses on a lower rate. Accommodation will be provided in the barn.
Standard Residential – £420
Our standard residential ticket. Accommodation will be provided in the barn.
Camping Ticket – £320
Locals Ticket – £190
We offer a discounted ticket for locals who do not require accommodation.
About the Tutors
Silvia is a writer and tutor born and raised in Eryri, North Wales. After graduating from the University of East Anglia in 2015 with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, she has worked in film exhibition, travelled around Europe and South America, and lived in Granada, Spain. In 2021 she published her first collection of poetry, Spell into Being. She currently runs creative writing classes in her local area alongside her freelance teaching work. Ranging from prose to poetry to nonfiction, her writing is largely inspired by her Welsh and Serbian roots, mythological imagery and the nitty gritty realism of raw experience. Working with words and bringing people together are her greatest passions.
Creative writing blog: http://www.spellintobeing.com/
Teaching website: www.englishforcreativeminds.com
Email: [email protected]
Bryher is a facilitator and organiser currently based in the mountains of Snowdonia. Bryher’s interest in teaching and community building began when she was employed to run Shift Bristol – an organisation teaching students practical sustainability and permaculture. At Shift she met the other directors of ShelterCraft, and developed a love for natural building.
Alongside ShelterCraft Bryher works for the Landworkers Alliance, providing supporting farmers to move towards regenerative agricultural practices. In her previous work Bryher was a Campaign Manager for the Green Party – working to elect Green leaders, influence policy and get issues of sustainability and resilience into the public dialogue.
In her work life, she finds joy in fostering community, facilitating and colour coding spreadsheets. In her down-time she is happiest making pickles and swimming in the river.
Testimonials
“The Writing for Resilience course is by far the best retreat experience I’ve ever been on. Bryher and Silvia facilitate and co-lead so well – they created such a warm, friendly, attentive, kind, welcoming environment, and kept the tone sensitive but light-hearted – injecting humour into the interactions as well as care. The barn and it’s setting are stunning. The food was delicious. If I can, I’ll come again!“
“As a person who loves to write and loves being outdoors, this course was absolutely perfect for me. I feel inspired, full of ideas and the workshops and conversations have left me feeling strong with a more secure sense of self. Totally worth it. Not to mention the food and accommodation was just beautiful. I highly recommend!”
“I’ve never been in a facilitated space as well-held as this. The kindness, honesty, lack of judgement, and humour were just right. It felt sensitive, but also willing not to take things too seriously – able to entertain. Honestly, it’s been incredible. I couldn’t have designed a more ideal course. I’d like to come again and again.”