SPACE

Our space programme is ready for take-off and we’re seeking adventurous co-travellers!

Together we’ll stretch the idea of space in different directions. We'll explore our surroundings and the spaces we relate to, from close up to far, far away. We'll consider how writers manage the distance between their readers’ minds and their characters’ minds. We'll make space to be playfully, unselfconsciously creative. And through practical exercises we'll consider the place our writing originates, looking from different angles to see what new ideas emerge.

All sessions include space and time to write, and offer plenty of scope for fiction-writers, poets and memoirists alike.

DAY ONE

Morning session: 10.30am - 1pm

Spatial Relationships, with Alison Chandler

To begin our space travels, we’re going to think and write about how we relate to the spaces we inhabit.

Close up
Why are most humans able to avoid walking into things? How do we manage to cross roads without being run over? What constant calculations are we making? And what happens when the ability to do all this navigating is blocked or taken away?

Middle distance
The environment we each inhabit influences the way we see the wider world. Why is the grass always greener on the other side of the city/mountain/ocean? Where do our ideas about our environment come from? How were they formed? Do they need to be held on to or changed?

Light years away
What has outer space got to do with us? Is it heartening or terrifying to think we’re made of stardust? What would it feel like to abandon gravity? What does it mean to wish upon a star?

Having thoroughly explored the external world, we’ll hand over to Kiare and get ready to explore the internal…

Afternoon session: 2 - 4.30pm

Working Psychic Distance, with Kiare Ladner

Writing is unique in the arts in giving us access to another consciousness (well, if you consider consciousness as thoughts, and thoughts as words).

Psychic AKA narrative distance involves the writer adjusting the space between a reader and a character. Sometimes the narrative might be told from a distance as if describing an objective reality. Other times, the reader might have to work hard to understand an uncompromisingly depicted interiority. The strongest writing often moves elastically back and forth in all manner of permutations.

While much of this happens subconsciously, being aware of psychic distance helps us work its techniques to create writing that is freshly expressive or propulsive. To understand this better, we'll look at examples by writers including Celeste Mohammed, Gabrielle Zevin and poet Fiona Benson, and do exercises of our own.

Carefully or spontaneously, working for and against ourselves, we will play with manipulating words to close the space between one consciousness and another...

And after this focus on literary mind-games, we’ll be ready for Day Two and Paul’s poetic fun and games!

DAY TWO

Morning session: 10.30am - 1pm
Making Space For Poetry, with Paul Lyalls

Making space to think, read and write is what our Summer School is all about. In this session, the focus will be on conjuring poems, whether or not you usually read or write poetry. Brace yourself for a fun-packed stream of space-inspired prompts and prepare to be awestruck at the results!

As Paul puts it in his own inimitable way, this will be a fun deep shallow dive into space and our place in it. In other words...

The right space at the right time
All over the space
Not a hair out of space
Between a rock and a hard space
Friends in high spaces
Space of origin
Space of worship
Come back to my space
All dressed up with no space to go
Well since my baby left me (den-den) I’ve found a new space to dwell
There's no space like home
We've got to get out of this space
Ooh baby you know what it's worth, we'll make heaven a space on Earth

Hopefully it'll all fall into space.*

PS - you know Paul's heart is in the right space ♡
PPS - spaces are limited! ♡

* Puns welcome but not essential...

After this exhilarating morning, we’ll be ready to gather our thoughts from across the Summer School and settle down to consider our individual world, its heart, and the essential core elements which make our writing unique.

Afternoon session: 2 - 4.30pm

The Space In Between, with Nazrene Hanif

‘I stood at the border, stood at the edge, and claimed it as central… And let the rest of the world move over to where I was.’
Toni Morrison 

For our final session of Summer School, we’ll claim the in-between as our centre and discover how lingering at the edges can reveal unexpected possibilities. Through a mix of readings, discussion and guided prompts, we’ll experiment with writing in the margins, cut-up techniques and hybrid forms, to make space for something new to emerge.

Looking to writers such as Bhanu Kapil, Anne Carson, Ted Chiang and Ursula K. Le Guin, we’ll gather inspiration from work that traces the borders of genre, memory, time and space. 

Whether you’re piecing together something new or reflecting on where your work might travel next, this closing session invites you to imagine and build your own universes to explore on – and beyond – the page, with time to share your space-inspired thoughts and ideas from the past two days.