Dear all
If you are new here, hello and welcome! I am Mel Parks and I have been running creative writing workshops in Sussex, UK for ten years while being a freelance writer, researcher and editor. I began this Substack, Awen, in 2022 as a gathering place for my thoughts about the writing process and to share some stories and creative inspiration along the way. Awen is free to read and share.
I run a weekly Tuesday afternoon (2-3pm UK time) guided creative writing session on live on Zoom for paid members. If you’d like to join, click the subscribe button and choose paid membership for £8 per month or £80 per year. If you are not able to subscribe (or don’t want to!), then please email me for alternative ways to join.
Dear all
Behind my house is a disused railway track. At this time of year, it is lined with yellow flowering lesser Celandine, early wild garlic leaves, dandelions and bare silver birch trees. You’ll hear the birdsong loud and clear and see cyclists and dog walkers. If you turn one way, you’ll pass allotments and come to the village shops. If you turn the other way, you’ll come to a bridge. Climb the adjacent steps and follow the tarmac single track road over the flowing River Medway, up the hill, past the field of leeks and rhododendron bushes until you see a sign for a left turn to Emerson College. Keep going past the wooden outbuildings with nurturing, creative names: pottery school, healing garden, storytelling hut and as the path opens out to a painted cream building you’ll stop for a moment to appreciate the two glorious large magnolia trees in full bloom.
I took this walk on Wednesday’s Spring Equinox and ended up in the new café at Emerson College to write and notice the season. I had the window seat and was joined by a friend. As the sun warmed us through the glass, we wrote together for half an hour and had a chat about the spring and how we felt.
I wrote a letter to my spring self. I’ve been working on my Mexico essay . I turned 29 during that holiday and I hadn’t yet become a writer or a mother, so it feels like a turning point. I think the essay is probably going to be about money and work and I have been doing some therapeutic writing around those issues. I enjoyed writing the letter to my younger 29 year old self and in a workshop the next day took one of the phrases I’d written in the café and wrote an abecedarian poem along with my participants.
An abecedarian poem is one in which every line begins with a new letter of the alphabet. I didn’t overthink it (as you can see below!!), wrote it in about ten minutes and found it really fun to try.
A poem and writing prompt
Dear My Spring Self Always go in the sea, but remember a towel and a hot flask of tea. Creativity is key. Don't forget; this is everything. When it slips from your mind, you will flounder around in the dark until you remember your garden. Dig in the earth, plant hyacinths if you must. Irises are a battle, but look glorious in July. The blossom will kill you with its beauty every time. Languish in summer smells, meander through daisies. Nod off under an oak tree. Pluck an acorn, hold it tight, for now you are quids in. Quid pro quo, they say. Rollick in the hay. Slide down on your back, leave the straw in your hair to be combed out another day. Until you can no longer move those knees, wade through rivers, wander in fields, wash in the ocean. X marks the spot where you will find your own particular treasure in somewhere long forgotten like Zanzibar.
Why don’t you give an abecedarian poem a go? Write the letters down the side of the page first or as they come when you write in a flow.
Creative Writing Workshops
Tuesday afternoon guided creative writing hour on Zoom (2-3pm UK time)
A weekly guided writing hour. I will introduce writing prompts inspired by life themes or nature and the seasons. There will be quiet writing together then time for some reflection or reading out at the end. If you’d like some company to work on your own projects, but don’t want the prompts, then you can mute those parts.
Ideal if you’d like to block out time to write each week or if you are looking for weekly inspiration for your writing with a nurturing, small group. There won’t be time for feedback in this session, but I will be available 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the hour to say ‘hi’ and answer any questions.
New season starting after Easter on 16 April - 12 sessions in total.
Break: 28 May & 4 June
Last session: 16 July.
£8 per month with a paid Awen Substack subscription.
Monthly Creative Writing Group - Tuesday evenings 7-9pm (in-person, Sussex)
£30 for one workshop
16 April
14 May
11 June
9 July
Click here to find out more and to book a place.
The Writer’s Notebook - Thursday mornings 10-12noon (in-person, Sussex)
£135 for a set of 5 weekly workshops
18 April
25 April
(no workshop on 2 May)
9 May
16 May
23 May
Click here to find out more and to book a place.
Until next time…
This newsletter was created by Mel Parks, a writer, researcher and workshop facilitator based in Sussex, UK. Mel runs writing workshops locally and on Zoom and researches creativity in midlife as well as her personal connection to nature. She has been widely published and is currently working on a series of moon and plant-inspired essays.
It is free to read and share, but if you value my work, please do stop by my virtual honesty box and leave a handful of loose change.