I’m excited to let you know that I’m teaming up with brilliant poet Helen Sheppard again to teach our on-ship writing workshop Writing on Water. It will take place from 10am-4pm on Saturday 18th March.
Book here.
Whether you write about a raindrop or an ocean, you can harness water as a powerful writing muse.
Join us for a voyage of discovery aboard the historic John Sebastian Lightship, moored in central Bristol, this one-day workshop encourages you to draw inspiration from the setting alongside creative exercises designed to help you find original, meaningful ways to use water in your writing.
There will be plenty of time to write, and no pressure to share.
How do you write about water? Does it trickle? Surge? Roar?
Is it hungry? Foreboding? Volatile? Reflective? Tranquil?
The day at a glance:
10am – 12pm Helen and I start the day gently with two readings to ease you into the theme of water, followed by fun prompts, generative writing exercises, examples, time to write and the opportunity to share your writing if you wish. There will be time for hot drinks and biscuits (included in the ticket price).
12pm – 1.30pm Inspiration-gathering harbourside walk (less than a mile in total) with prompts to engage each of your senses, and lunch (not included, but lots of options around the venue in Bristol, or bring your own).
1.30pm – 3.30pm Generative writing exercises, hot drinks and homemade cake (included), plus the opportunity to work with other writers, and opportunity to share your writing from the workshop.
3.30pm – 4pm Your chance to ask questions about how to develop your writing, what to do with it next (such as performance or publication), and share any feedback on the day’s experiences.
“Judy and Helen led such a supportive and inspiring workshop, with the lightship as a unique venue. I loved the walk, prompts and time to explore ideas. My story that began on the lightship went on to win 2nd prize in the Retreat West Flash Fiction Competition!” Emma Phillips, participant in the first Writing on Water workshop in October 2022.
Book your ticket for Writing on Water.
Why write about water?
I’ve been drawn to this mercurial, enigmatic element throughout my writing career, opening my debut short story collection Remember Me To The Bees with a story titled ‘Never seen the Sea’.
Fiction, non-fiction and poetry can all swim into watery themes, whether that’s to add atmosphere, provide a setting or build an evocative metaphor.
As a taster, here’s a splash from ‘Never seen the Sea’ from my short story collection Remember Me to the Bees:
A triangle of blue sharper and brighter than the sky – that was the first of it. Then a tang in her throat like the savoury suck of a chip dipped in salt and vinegar. As she got closer, other sensations rang through her: a crack and crash like a glass falling and rolling and splintering again and again in a bathroom washbasin; a deep breath in, gasp out shuddering through the shore; the freshness of rain in the air, bursting against her skin from every direction possible.
And the triangle soared, spread out, transforming into a strip that hurtled all the way to the horizon, meeting the sky with a dazzle that forced her to glance away; a size too vast to comprehend; bigger than the confines of her mind could contain. But more than that was the endless movement, less like one vast thing than a mass of smaller things, heaving, jostling, vying for the surface yet never quite breaking through.
Who will be teaching you?
Judy Darley is a fiction writer, journalist and occasional poet from Bristol. Her fiction has been described as ‘shimmeringly strange’, possibly because she can’t stop writing about the infinite fallibilities of the human mind. Judy’s words have been published and performed on BBC radio and harbour walls, as well as in bookshops, museums, cafés, caves, pubs, a disused church and an artist’s studio. Judy is the author of three fiction collections: The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain (Reflex Press), Sky Light Rain (Valley Press) and Remember Me To The Bees (Tangent Books). Find Judy at SkyLightRain.com and on Twitter as @JudyDarley.
Helen Sheppard is a Bristol-based writer and worked as a midwife. Her poetry explores themes of birth, health loss, and those whose voices are often unheard. Helen has performed her poetry at Milk Poetry, RTB, Torriano Meeting House and Harvard Medical School. Helen’s work has been published widely, including These are the Hands and Under the Radar magazine. Her debut poetry collection Fontanelle was published in 2021 by Burning Eye Books. Helen interviews extraordinary poets for her podcast Health Beat Poets. Find Helen on Twitter as HelenSheppard7 and on Instagram as helensheppard58.
Celebrating its fourth year, Flash Fiction Festival 2023 spreads out over three intensely creative days in July. The in-person version of the festival unfurls ofrom 14th-16th July, welcoming fabulous flashers including Kathy Fish, Nancy Stohlman, Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Carrie Etter and Tania Hershman.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be welcoming 
