Creative Workshops 2007 August Writing
Newsletter
Dear writer
Nasrudin comes home from
the marketplace
and greets his friend.
“I have sold my Persian carpet for 100
gold pieces.”
The friend’s face falls. “Is that all
you’ve got for that exquisite carpet?”
Nasrudin looks bewildered.
“Is there a number higher than 100?”
Rumi, the Persian
mystic-poet is buried in
As you approach the grave, there is a
gate with a giant padlock guarding the Islamic turban topped vault. The gate
stands alone. There is no fence on either side. All you need to do is walk
around the forbidding gates.
As you look at the tombstone, there is small
peep hole in it. Is it there so that Nasrudin can see who has stopped at the
gate? And who has grasped that the gate is no barrier to the mystery within?
Is this a metaphor for the way our writing leads us round the
barrier? Into the mystery of fiction? It was Rumi who said, “I have told so
many stories that I am become fiction.”
August Workshops
Crossing the River: Writing, Being and
Transformation
10 Aug -
Fri eve to Sun after lunch in the hills of Ixopo…
KZN Ixopo Buddhist Retreat Centre 039 834 1863 brcixopo@futurenet.co.za
The seasons of the year, like the seasons of our lives, prepare us
for changes. These changes confront us with loss as we make the transition to a
new stage. We explore, discover and reflect these realities as we write and
meditate on the transformations in our journey. We consider how writing helps
us dip the oars into dark water so we may cross the river safely.
Sun 26 August 09.30 –16.15 (registration 09.15)
True ease in
writing comes from art not chance
As those move
easiest who have learnt to dance.
(Alexander Pope)
Writing involves creating a text then crafting it. Peter Elbow (Writing with Power) compares creating to sailing from the harbour
into the blue beyond. He likens crafting to plotting our way home to the
harbour.
In this workshop we sail out
and we sail home. We create our first drafts. We craft shape and structure
them. We balance what is said with what is implied. We ask the questions “How
can I encourage the creativity of the reader?” “How can I be present in the
text and find my voice?” “How can I let the text sing?”
Beginners are welcome. Come and
learn to ‘dance.’ Venue to be announced.
Egoli : the above workshop Sun 30 Sept R450
Leaning
towards Spring …..
Two events at the Wakkerstroom Country Inn (already 80% booked)
Want come to Wakkerstroom over the 21-
24 Sept. long weekend? (2,5 hrs drive SE ex Egoli) Why not stay over at the
A Wakkerstroom Creative Writing
Workshop R190
Sat 22 Sept 09.30
– 12.45 (registration 09.15)
The good news? Everybody has a story to tell and
anybody can write. Writing is not a talent. It is a learnt skill. This
workshop gets you started so you can glide across the page. Connect to your
creativity and imagination and be at home with words. The workshop shows you
how to reach your readers.
Beginners are welcome. Dorian has shown many people how to find the writer hiding inside
them. Come and learn
to ‘dance.’ Bring writing materials.
Wakkerstroom Bosman & Boerekos Evening R150.00
Saturday 22nd Sept
19.00
It is not the story that counts. It's the way you tell it (Oom
Schalk Lourens)
You are invited to join us for an evening of fun, laughter and
great food & wine, with Herman Charles Bosman stories. Listen to Oom Schalk
narrate stories of love, leopards, peach brandy, concertinas and psalm
singing as you savour traditional South African cuisine. And sip a farmer’s thumb of mampoer.
Payment for Bosman evening:
Wakkerstroom Country Inn
ABSA Account no: 4059567695
Branch: Volksrust (Please
use ‘Bosman’ and your name as reference)
Proof of payment fax: 017
7300621 email: stay@countryinn.co.za
Poem Poem Poem (PPP) Making Poetry
The second course begins 1 Aug.
There have been rich exchanges.
Bob Commin who runs the course with me is investigating a publication of
the 11 poets involved. Next course Aug. Kirsty writes “It's been a wonderful
trip. Thanks for guiding us through it.”
New New New: The Poet’s Voice: Advanced Poetry
Writing Course
Bob Commin and I will be offering an email apprenticeship in poetry - The
Poet’s Voice . This aims to take you further
up the writing mountain and offer you a deeper engagement with your craft and your calling. Our chief
concern is not the academic approach to a poem, but a holistic one in which a
meeting of reader and poet takes place in and through the text.
This four month course in which participants work through assignments, is
structured in the nature of an ongoing conversation. You engage with us and you engage with the group as well. You are committed to keeping a poetry
journal to record your four month’s
reflections. The journal is a vital part of the process. Flyer on request. Begins in
Aug. There is still time to don your poetry boots.
Write Write Write: Writers’ Development: Email Course (WWW)
Elma Pollard, who writes a weekly earth column in the Bolander, and facilitates
most of this course, writes:
There have
been many requests for follow-up courses. So now I have created wwwfollow1. It
will stretch over 3 months. You can start whenever you want. Three assignments,
R900 in total. We will link by means of facebook, a stunning tool for
internet communities. So head over to www.facebook.com
and create your own page. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can all chat
together with visuals. (Elma’s
email starlight@wol.co.za. 084
868 2908)
NGO Work
In Aug. I’ll be facilitating a 2 day workshop for Groundwork, a Pmb-based
NGO who supports grassroots community
campaigns for environmental justice.
I will be working in stories with Morten
Nygard whom I mentor. Morten explores body types and natural strengths in the
context of leadership and development.
Workshops/Literary
Events with other Folk
Bob Commin poet, writer, storyteller and pastor, runs poetry courses/events in the Southern Suburbs (Obs to Fish Hoek) (h) 021 447 9550 082
2025303 bcommin@netactive.co.za
www.making-poetry.com Shed some old skins
Tredicis
in the
If you are wanting to write, seek the company of writers. Paul and
Fadelah host Hugh Hodge’s Off the Wall
Poetry readings once a month on Weds. (hahodge@gmail.com). and Thurs 2 August is story night … theme? Myths of the God and Goddess with
Dorian
May you step round the gate and look Nasrudin in the eye.
Dorian
PS Thank
you to all those who circulate this
letter. Sign off if you need to. (I need your name please in order to
deregister you)
Dr Dorian Haarhoff
021 855 3937 / 082 873 6802/ fax 086 511 4751
http://dorianhaarhoffwriter.homestead.com