Saturday 13th April 2019
MAMMOTH Morning of Writing Workshops
​at The Whitstable School

Bookings are subject to our terms and conditions

PROGRAMME

8.45am - Registration

As always we have our very popular Mystery Book Swap! Delegates bring a novel they are happy to give away (tucking a note inside if they wish to say why it is being donated -love it/hate it) we wrap it up  -then in the last break we have a lucky dip! Registration opens: 8.45am – drop off the novel you wish to swap.

9.15 – 9.45am Morning Pages
​with Peggy Riley

Morning Pages are three pages of longhand – or 750 words on a laptop – stream of consciousness writing. They are not high art. They are not even ‘writing.’ They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind. There is no wrong way to do them – and they are for your eyes only.

If you follow author Peggy Riley on Twitter - @Peggy_Riley – you will see she’s an advocate of Morning Pages. Come and join her first thing before our workshops to focus your writing mind!

10.00 – 11.00am
​Choose A or B:

A: Writers’ Circuits – fast and furious!
​with Sonia Overall

Writers' Circuits are a series of 10 minute idea generating exercises and writing against the clock. With prompts and a stopwatch it's intensive, but exhilarating, as participants go away with lots of ideas which can be developed into poetry, prose or script.

Sharpen your pencils and minds and join Sonia Overall, senior lecturer in Creative & Professional Writing at Canterbury Christ Church University, where she runs the MA in Creative Writing.
​

B: The Psychology of Writing
​with Vicky Newham

Join author and psychology teacher, Vicky Newham, for an interactive session on the psychology of writing. This will consider what can help and hinder, and will include:

- The key elements of being a writer
-How to use writing goals to set success criteria
-How to turn ideas into structured plots
-When and where to write - routines and rituals, biorhythms and health
-The confidence: competence dilemma, imposter syndrome and comparison-itis

11.00 – 11.20am Coffee/tea break with lucky dip into our Mystery Book Swap

11.20 – 12.20am
​Choose A or B:
​

A: ‘Let’s talk,’ she said. Making the most of Dialogue
​with Andrew McGuinness

Award winning fiction and non-fiction author, mentor and creative writing tutor, Andrew McGuinness will examine how to improve a writer’s dialogue in a story.

Using examples and writing exercises, the following aspects of dialogue will be explored:

-is what’s said absolutely necessary here?
-is it working hard enough?
-effective dialogue that works on many levels at the same time
-common mistakes to avoid

Looking at examples, discover how effective dialogue can act on more than one level at the same time

B: Self as Inspiration
with ​Marnie Summerfield Smith 

We are a species of storytellers. And we want our story to be heard. But, whether we want to use it for memoir or fiction, it can be tough to harness. Where do we start and how can we take hold of something so unwieldy? Writing a fairy tale, in the third person, is extremely enlightening. Are we the tenacious Jack with his magic beans or the hardworking Cinderella? Is there a Beauty in your life, or a Beast? ​

Join ghost writer and memoir mentor Marnie Summerfield Smith in this workshop where you will look at how to reveal the story that resonates inside. What happens next is up to you…

12.30 – 13.30 Best selling author
​Anstey Harris 

Bestselling author Anstey Harris talks with her literary agent Sarah Hornsley (The Bent Agency) about their journey to a six-figure publishing deal with ‘The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton.’
Bookings are subject to our terms and conditions
Location: The Whitstable School
​Bellevue Road, Whitstable, CT5 1PX
​Free on-site parking

SPEAKERS

Anstey Harris

Anstey Harris is based by the seaside in south-east England where she lives with her violinmaker husband and two dogs. She teaches creative writing in the community, local schools, and as an associate lecturer for Christchurch University in Canterbury.

​Anstey writes about the things that make people tick, the things that bind us and the things that can rip us apart. In 2015, she won the H G Wells Short Story Prize for her story, Ruby. In novels, Anstey tries to celebrate uplifting ideas and prove that life is good and that happiness is available to everyone once we work out where to look (usually inside ourselves). Her short stories tend not to end quite so well...

​Things that interest Anstey include her children and granddaughter, green issues and conservation, adoption and adoption reunion (she is an adopted child, born in an unmarried mothers' home in Liverpool in 1965), stepfamilies, dogs, and food. Always food. She would love to be on Masterchef but would never recover from the humiliation if she got sent home in the first round. 
Sarah Hornsley
​
Sarah read History at Durham University and graduated with a first class honours degree. She began my publishing career at the Orion Publishing Group in London, where she worked in nonfiction and fiction before going on to gain experience in script development for TV and film. Having decided that she wanted to work specifically with books Sarah moved into agenting; which turned out to be her dream job!

Sarah’s taste is varied and she’s looking for commercial and accessible literary adult fiction, YA and nonfiction. She’s on the hunt for uplifting women’s fiction in the reading group space, such as Catherine Isaac’s YOU, ME, EVERYTHING or Gail Honeyman’s ELEANOR OLIPHANT. She’s also looking for a love story, whether that be something modern and high-concept like Zoe Folbigg’s THE NOTES and Beth O’Leary’s THE FLAT SHARE, or something more in the vein of Julie Cohen’s TOGETHER. Sarah represents a range of thrillers and crime books full of twists and turns with interesting and vivid settings. In nonfiction, she’s looking for memoir and narrative non-fiction as well as popular science and cookery. For YA, Sarah’s particularly interested in contemporary stories in the vein of ONE OF US IS LYING and EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING.
Andrew McGuinness 

Andrew was born in London to Irish parents. He's an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction and  has published history, journalism, short stories, novels and poetry.​

He has lectured at a number of universities across the UK including Newcastle, Glasgow and Manchester. Most recently, Andrew was an associate lecturer in creative writing at two universities in Canterbury. He's been involved in literary festivals, community projects to support new writers and he designed and delivered the first fiction mentoring scheme in Kent. He's been a writer-in-residence at locations as diverse as schools to beach huts and has interviewed world famous novelists at high-profile events, notably Kazuo Ishiguro, Andrew O’Hagan, David Nicholls and Philip Hensher.​

Andrew now works freelance as a writing mentor and editor. His latest novel, Anatomised (2018) draws on his experience after being diagnosed with Lyme disease. It is a tale of loss, but also of hope. Andrew started out writing a book that explored the darkest aspects of living and dying with a chronic illness, but as he wrote it, it became a love letter to life.
Vicky Newham

Vicky grew up on the south coast of England. After working in sales and fundraising, and running various successful businesses, she obtained a Psychology degree. In 2002, she began teaching GCSE/A-level Psychology in Stepney, East London and moved to East Ham shortly after that. Vicky left full-time teaching in 2012 and began an MA Creative Writing at Kingston University. She moved to Whitstable in 2013. For several years, she taught and tutored Psychology locally, and now spends most days writing and walking the dog.
​
Turn a Blind Eye is the first in the DI Rahman series of novels. Published in hardback, e-book and audio on 5th April 2018 by HQ/HarperCollins, it is a contemporary police procedural, set in the Tower Hamlets borough of East London. It combines the mystery and investigation 
 
The second book in the series, Out of the Ashes, will be published in April 2019 by HQ.
Sonia Overall

Sonia’s novels A Likeness (shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award) and The Realm of Shells are published by 4th Estate/HarperPerennial. Her poetry has appeared in various anthologies and most recently in Shearsman magazine. Her book The Art of Walking (Shearsman 2015) is a collection of poetry drawing on her interest in psychogeography and creative responses to place. In 2016 Sonia published her experimental novel Cruel Brother: a novel in parts in serial form online as part of Shakespeare 400.
​
Sonia is a Senior Lecturer in Creative & Professional Writing at Canterbury Christ Church University, where she runs the MA in Creative Writing. She also teaches and leads workshops in creative writing for festivals, writers' groups and study groups.
Peggy Riley
​
Peggy is a writer, playwright, and creative writing instructor.  Her plays have been commissioned and produced off-West End, on tour, and for radio.  Her short fiction has been published in magazines and anthologies, and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and Costa Short Story Award.  Her first novel is Amity & Sorrow.  Currently a sessional lecturer for the Creative and Professional Writing programme at Canterbury Christ Church, she regularly runs writing workshops in schools, libraries, arts centres and prisons.  peggyriley.com ​
Marnie Summerfield Smith
​
Ghost writer, editor, memoir writer and professional interviewer, Marnie is the director of Your Memoir and has worked on over 60 projects in 10 years with authors all over the world aged 22 to 96. Marnie's authors have written about everything from their darkest moments to their greatest joys. She encourages everyone, even those who might consider their lives to be ordinary, to record their unique stories. 

Marnie says, "I am passionate about memoir and I love my work. I feel privileged to be entrusted with my authors stories and am proud to provide a warm, nurturing but professional service." She leads workshops and memoir writing retreats. Details can be found on her website www.yourmemoir.co.uk