The Writing Squad

Poets Minigoals
2023-03-08 18:30 - 20:00 UTC | Zoom
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.

Topic: Poets Mini Goals
Time: Mar 8, 2023 06:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89281065693?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 892 8106 5693
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Script Minigoals
2023-03-09 17:30 - 19:00
Online script minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.

Topic: Script Mini Goals
Time: Mar 9, 2023 05:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85471549933?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 854 7154 9933
Passcode: [REDACTED]

SFF Minigoals
2023-03-13 18:00 - 19:30
Online SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.

Topic: SFF Mini Goals
Time: Mar 13, 2023 06:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89916823663?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 899 1682 3663
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Prose Minigoals
2023-03-16 18:00 - 19:30
Online prose minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.

Topic: Prose Mini Goals
Time: Mar 16, 2023 06:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84457760317?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 844 5776 0317
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Prerana Kumar Workshop: Writing with Rituals
2023-03-25 11:00 - 16:00 | Priory Street Centre, York
More details and signup here.
A ritual may be defined as ‘a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order’. The ‘place, power and potential’ of rituals are formative in the construction of the social, cultural, and political fabric of many societies. Rituals can sustain habit and become receptacles of memories – both good and bad. Rituals can also harness the power of community nurture, intimacy, and tenderness, thereby having the radical capacity to facilitate resistance and reclamation for marginalised bodies.
This workshop will include poetry and writing exercises that explore the ambiguous nature of rituals, looking at work by Nisha Ramayya, Bhanu Kapil, Nina Mingya Powles, and Rebecca Tamas amongst others to creatively explore this.

Poets Minigoals
2023-03-29 18:30 - 20:00
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.
Topic: Poets Minigoals
Time: Mar 29, 2023 06:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88091056442?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 880 9105 6442
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Script Minigoals
2023-04-03 17:30 - 19:00
Online script minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.

Topic: Script Minigoals
Time: Apr 3, 2023 05:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89738522856?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 897 3852 2856
Passcode: [REDACTED]

SFF Minigoals
2023-04-10 18:00 - 19:30
Online SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.
Topic: SFF Minigoals
Time: Apr 10, 2023 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81738958873?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 817 3895 8873
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Prose Minigoals
2023-04-13 18:00 - 19:30
Online prose minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.

Topic: Prose Minigoals
Time: Apr 13, 2023 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81546322795?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 815 4632 2795
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Poets Minigoals
2023-04-19 18:30 - 20:00
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.
Topic: Poets Minigoals
Time: Apr 19, 2023 06:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89157464385?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 891 5746 4385
Passcode: [REDACTED]

SFF Minigoals
2023-05-08 18:00 - 19:30
Online SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.

Topic: SFF Minigoals
Time: May 8, 2023 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88114490962?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 881 1449 0962
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Poets Minigoals
2023-05-10 18:30 - 20:00
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.

Topic: Poets Minigoals
Time: May 10, 2023 06:30 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84652743734?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 846 5274 3734
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Prose Minigoals
2023-05-11 18:00 - 19:30
Online prose minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.
Topic: Prose Minigoals
Time: May 11, 2023 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84588931633?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 845 8893 1633
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Poets Minigoals
2023-05-24 18:30 - 20:00
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.
Topic: Poets Minigoals
Time: May 31, 2023 06:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83233059522?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 832 3305 9522
Passcode: [REDACTED]

SFF Minigoals
2023-06-05 18:00 - 19:30
Online SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.
Topic: SFF Minigoals
Time: Jun 5, 2023 06:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86051076066?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 860 5107 6066
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Kick-starters with Malika Booker: Workshop
2023-06-10 11:00 - 16:00
THIS WORKSHOP IS ONLY FOR SQUAD 11. BOOK HERE.
A common symptom of the belief that writing is a gift achieved only through instant inspiration is being defeated by the blank page, writers block, or sitting to write the master piece and being consistently unhappy with the results on the page. This workshop will explore and experiment with different strategies for kick starting writing. The aim is to leave with several drafts as well as starting lines for poems. We will use journals, freewrites, objects, word banks, rhyme trains, and exploratory walks etc to gather, tinker, play and fiddle with strategies for handling that empty page. We will cast various fishing lines to see what baits work for us.

You are required to bring the following: a discarded poem/ prose piece (a piece of work that you have been working on that just does not work, please print it out 2 hard copies, 14 font, double spaced, single side), a favourite or unusual word from the dictionary with the meaning and history, scissors, glue sticks and notebooks. You may also want to bring a drink/food, although there will be a break in which you’re welcome to go out to buy lunch. Be prepared to have fun.

This workshop is primarily for Squad 11, if you are a grad and want to be put on the waiting list please email libby@writingsquad.com.

Experiments & Play with Stevie Ronnie: Workshop
2023-06-17 11:00 - 16:00
SQUAD 11 WORKSHOP. TICKETS HERE.
In this workshop we will be exploring how playing with words and using constraints can help us to overcome the blank page and generate new and original ideas for our writing.
We’ll begin by playing with the music and rhythm of words, generating poems and exploring the power of recognising and switching between our critical and creative mindsets. We’ll then move on to explore experimental techniques in both poetry and prose that were pioneered by the 1960’s French surrealist group Oulipo (short for “Ouvrior de Littérature Potentielle” or “Workshop of Potential Literature,” in English). The founders of Oulipo believed that the only way to be truly free in your writing was to impose constraints on the process of composition.
During the workshop we’ll also be playing with and reflecting on collaboration and how working with others can open up new possibilities for our writing.
You should bring something to write on/with. You may also want to bring some water and food if you like, although there will be a break during which you’re welcome to go out and buy food.

This workshop is primarily for Squad 11, if you are a grad and want to be put on the waiting list please email libby@writingsquad.com.

Poets Minigoals
2023-06-21 18:30 - 20:00
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.
Topic: Poets Minigoals
Time: Jun 21, 2023 06:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89569802490?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 895 6980 2490
Passcode: [REDACTED]

How to Find Your Focus with Emma Adams: Workshop
2023-07-01 11:00 - 16:00
SQUAD 11 WORKSHOP. TICKETS HERE.
We all want to get stuff done, right? But it can be hard knowing how to develop a writing practice that is right for you.
How do you get things done but not freak out trying to do it? How do you find your own voice? How do you become the writer you want to be?
Emma is not convinced that any of us do our best work when we’re focused on the product and thinks it’s better to focus on the process and allow the product to emerge. This not only makes writing more fun, but also in the end, more productive.
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking…
How do I find ‘my voice’? How do I work out what I want to write? How do I make time to write? How do I find ways to start a project, keep working on a project &/or or finish a project?
… This workshop might be useful for you.
During our time together we’ll explore this premise – If we spend more time thinking about our writing as ‘play’ rather than as ‘work’, then we’ll have more fun, get more done and importantly write stuff that is truly the stuff we should be writing (not the stuff we think we ought to write).
This workshop will be come through the prism of dramatic writing (plays, telly, film, drama) but every kind of writer is welcome and you’ll find plenty here that will be useful across the board.
During this workshop we’ll be doing some or all of these things:
Writing together. Talking to each other, sharing ideas, thinking, listening, speaking. We might do some drawing or making too. As a lot of the workshop will come out of the ideas we share together, come prepared for surprises, for listening and trying out new ways of doing stuff.
You should bring something to write on/with, a drink and/or food, although there will be a lunch break in which you’re welcome to go out to buy lunch.

This workshop is primarily for Squad 11, if you are a grad and want to be put on the waiting list please email libby@writingsquad.com.

SFF Minigoals
2023-07-03 18:00 - 19:30
Online SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.
Topic: SFF Minigoals
Time: Jul 3, 2023 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87318326356?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 873 1832 6356
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Poets Minigoals
2023-07-12 18:30 - 20:00
Online poets minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 3 weeks.
Topic: Poets Minigoals
Time: Jul 12, 2023 06:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84103311644?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 841 0331 1644
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Mining for Stories with Katie Hale: Workshop
2023-07-15 11:00 - 16:00
SQUAD 11 WORKSHOP. TICKETS HERE.
It’s a great feeling when inspiration strikes – but where do we look for stories when it doesn’t? Whether it’s our own lives, local uncelebrated stories, or taking inspiration from other art forms, we’ll be looking at where can we dig to excavate those glittering possibilities – and how we might tell those stories once we’ve found them.
As well as a chance to get to know each other and write together, this workshop will introduce starting points for new stories and ways to develop existing work – with a series of shorter prompts and exercises, and time for a slightly longer piece of writing in the afternoon.
You will need to bring something to write on/with. You may also want to bring a drink/food, although there will be a break with the chance to go out to buy lunch.
This workshop is primarily for Squad 11, if you are a grad and want to be put on the waiting list please email libby@writingsquad.com.

SFF Minigoals
2023-07-31 18:00 - 19:30
Online SFF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) minigoals session for members of The Writing Squad. This event takes place every 4 weeks.
Topic: SFF Minigoals
Time: Jul 31, 2023 06:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83468564155?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 834 6856 4155
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Squad 11 Minigoals
2023-08-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Exclusively for Squad 11.
Minigoals are a relaxed, informal way to check in about your writing, share cultural highlights and support one another’s progress. This monthly meeting is exclusively for Squad 11 members. If you haven’t received your invitation, contact libby@writingsquad.com.

Squad Dramatist Forum
2023-08-17 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
Open to all Squads.
A forum for Writing Squad dramatists to create a playwrights’ plan of action with Billie and Emma.
Since Autumn 2022, Emma and Billie have been been speaking to a range of new-writing theatres across the country. They’ve used these conversations to create a picture of where buildings are at when it comes to commissioning, developing and producing new work. This session will be an open forum for Squad dramatists – Emma and Billie will present their findings and proposals, and together we’ll shape a plan of action. It’s a space for us to pool our knowledge, discuss what we need and want as playwrights and how we can develop realistic, meaningful relationships with venues across the North and beyond.
THURSDAY 17 AUGUST, ZOOM. MORE DETAILS AND SIGN UP HERE.

Rebel Geese & Cute Rats: Writing Urban Nature Workshop
2023-08-31 19:30 - 21:00
Open to Squad grads. If you are in Squad 11 and would like to join, email libby@writingsquad.com.
An uplifting workshop with Liz Gibson exploring urban nature’s resilience, quirkiness and comfort. Ready to declare your love for pigeons, or make peace with the seagull who stole your lunch? Liz Gibson will lead this session, using writing exercises to explore how we can find joy in creatures which are often looked down on. How can we relate to city creatures through ideas of resilience, feeling out of place but wanting to thrive or be seen?
THURSDAY 31 AUGUST, ZOOM. MORE DETAILS AND SIGN UP HERE.

Squad 11 Minigoals
2023-09-11 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-10-09 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-11-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Minigoals are a relaxed, informal way to check in about your writing, share cultural highlights and support one another’s progress. This monthly Zoom meeting is exclusively for Squad 11 members. If you haven’t received the link, contact libby@writingsquad.com.

The Fire of the Unconscious with Jason Allen-Paisant: Workshop
2023-09-23 11:00 - 16:00 | Leeds
Join award-winning poet, scholar and writer Jason Allen-Paisant in exploring surprise, intrigue and the unconscious through poetry.

This workshop is exclusively for graduate members of The Writing Squad. If you are in Squad 11 and would like to join the waiting list, email libby@writingsquad.com.
Discover the benefits and rewards of creating surprise in our poetry; of surprising one’s reader and oneself. We’ll be talking associative leaps and swerves, the power of juxtaposition, and about disrupting the familiar.
We’ll look at poems that interrogate the assumed universality of the lyric voice. All in all, what we’ll be looking at are ways of firing up the unconscious and thereby creating excitement and intrigue in our poetry. We will look at work by poets as varied as Padraig Regan, Ilya Kaminsky, Jill Bialosky, and Ada Limón.
