September 2010

Memoir and creating memories

Convincing Nell McCafferty to teach a workshop was not easy. Ill health curtails her energy but the promise of sunshine and Spanish wine grabbed her attention along with the chance to share some of her hard-earned writing pearls of wisdom. Needless to say, Nell’s reputation precedes her wherever she goes and from the moment the word got out that she would be giving a workshop on writing memoir, the enquiries started to flood in.

With a new, town-centre, spacious location for our classroom and a full group of seven attending, Nell’s workshop was set to be a heady experience. Amongst the group was Mick Dunne (the only male), who came first in the Sunday Independent / In The Write Light summer competition with his version of ‘The Holiday’ (To read this story, please see the competition page). Nell kicked off the proceedings and as promised, she pulled no punches. She launched straight into the craft of memoir encouraging the group to loose any fear of disclosing lurking skeletons. The fact is we all have skeletons. That’s what makes memoir so explosive, so juicy, so personal. I didn’t attend these classes myself, but the group assured me over lunch that they had plunged the depths of their personal experiences and resurfaced, emboldened by Nell’s unique insights. Such is the power of a personality like Nell’s: people want to share with her; they want her to know the hardships of their lives and when she sympathises, they feel validated. In fact, all memoir writing treads this thin line, which begs the question: why write it? As a literary form, few memoirs make the grade. That’s because generally the reader is more interested in the story rather than the quality of writing. But that wasn’t Nell’s tact. Her coaching stressed the importance of finding the right way to tell the story and with a bit of luck and a lot of perseverance, no doubt we can expect to see some mesmerizing memoirs hitting bookstore shelves in the near future.

July 2010

Hellfire, drama, football and fun

Drama was what Mia Gallagher promised and drama's what we got. We had to overcome a volcano, soaring airfares, lost luggage, last minute cancellations and a clapped-out car to make the July 2010 workshop with Mia happen, but by God, it happened. We were only four, but as I've said before, good things in small packages. We settled in quickly, enjoying a little World Cup Football fever on our first night. The next morning we kicked off with the job at hand, chiefly adding drama to our writing.

September 2008

Small is beautiful....

With a small class of four women, including myself, I expected September 2008's workshop to be a quiet affair. And it almost was except for the roaring talent that roused our novel quartet. One of the participants was competition winner, Deborah Garber. This dark unassuming woman had won by submitting a tale telling of her time in Seville. It was moody mystical piece, a quality which we quickly realised coloured much of her work. Her shamanic stories with their quiet quirkiness belied brutal lost realities of Spain's hidden history. Expect to see Deborah's name on a bookshelf near you soon.

The work of Elizabeth, our Leeds lass, was equally evocative. Not a shy lass, she blatantly broached taboo subjects in lyric poems and sharp prose. Using exercises that challenged and compelled us, Paul's guidance was elemental in unearthing our individual voices. While one-on-one sessions ensured we left with advice that advanced our personal writing projects. As always, Saturday evening was a fun affair. A group half hour meditation session relaxed us before a buffet feast of ribs, quiche, salad and wine, while local musicians serenaded us with a mix of Spanish and classical music. Another weekend of words and wonder.

June 2008

Boomers meet the Wii ones...

September 2007

Write here, write now...

By summertime, the word had started to spread about IN THE WRITE LIGHT. Six students signed up. A mother and daughter from the Costa del Sol, two sisters from Dublin, and two more, one Irish man and another English woman, both lived in Spain for almost twenty years.

The expats said they were grateful to finally have the chance to pursue their writing passion in Spain.

June 2007

Walk before you write...

Four students was the perfect number for the first IN THE WRITE LIGHT session. No one could quite believe we had two Colms and two Orlas, but their distinctive personalities ensured we never confused them. A teacher, a professional, a retiree, a housewife, the number was small, but the experience immense.