Are you an artist who writes? Or a writer who arts?
Mentoring for writers of all stripes, ages, and abilities.
Expand and deepen your understanding of writing with Dr. James Miller and Dr. Anna Johnson. These two published authors and experienced university lecturers hold workshops, intensives, and one to one mentoring at RuptureXIBIT, complimenting our existing art mentoring team of artists Kate Howe and Sally Minns.
NOW!
WRITING WORKSHOP: Saturday, June 14 · 2pm - 5pm
Rebellion and Regeneration: Writing about Nature in a Time of Crisis
This month’s writing workshop will combine creative writing exercises exploring the natural world, with readings and discussion on climate crisis. James Miller, a founding member of the activist group Writers Rebel will discuss some of their events and actions, featuring clips of writers such as Zadie Smith, George Monbiot and Jay Griffiths speaking out about the climate crisis.
Anna’s short writing exercises are designed to explore how we might find language for feeling, through the natural world. We will read extracts from poet Seán Hewitt and writer Katherine Mansfield to help us examine how location, landscape and the natural world can draw the reader into the work through the materiality of nature.
Click here to book. Only £5.00.
NEXT!
WRITING WORKSHOP: Saturday, July 12 · 2pm - 5pm
Writing others/ writing yourself - crafting character in fiction, life writing and autofiction
The first half of the workshop will explore how we can develop complex, realistic characters, writing from perspectives other than our own.
In the second half of this workshop, we will turn to ideas around life writing, autofiction and memoir, and how we might write ourselves. We will explore these modes of writing through short writing exercises and prompts, drawing on Melissa Febos' work discussing her experience of writing memoir, and other life writers such as Maggie Nelson and Jane Lazarre. Book your spot here. Only £5.00.
Special event: Wednesday 30th July - Poetry Course/Workshop
Why Rupture Writing?
Rupture believes everyone is an artist, with art existing in many forms. Rupture presents workshops and events that draw inspiration from the free-flowing, interdisciplinary salons of the past, emphasizing that art is a dynamic response to impulse and experience rather than something able to be rigidly defined.
At Rupture, artistic practice is fluid and ever-evolving. Artists are encouraged to explore, question, and allow their work to emerge naturally. Writing is essential in this process, clarifying thinking and deepening understanding. By embracing writing, artists can refine their creative expression without the constraints of external validation.
Rupture fosters this exploration through Practice Development weekends, offering workshops on examining and expanding artistic practices, followed by writing sessions with published authors. Writing and art are intertwined—through writing, artists can make sense of their work, reflect on their practice, and push creative boundaries.
About James and methodology:
“My practice as a mentor aims to be as free as possible from pre-determined ideas or assumptions; I treat each writer as distinct and individual and aim to work with them to help them best realise their ideas. Within this space, I have a three fold approach:
1. Diagnostic. We ask. Where are you at? What are you writing? What do you want to achieve with your writing? Where are you on your writing journey? Are you a beginner looking for more fundamental guidance and support or an adept who needs a final push to produce work of a publishable standard?
2. Practical. We look at your technique and style - how can we improve the words on the page? How can we improve the structure and impact of the piece? How can we make the piece work better? How can we make your writing sharper, more original, more distinct, more creative?
3. Existential/ fundamental. Is this what you want to write? What are you really writing about? We go deep to really try and figure out - what is your story? What is the problem that your work is speaking to? Sometimes this can require painful forms of growth - abandoning inauthentic projects that you've outgrown and are holding you back, having the courage to address what it is you really want to write about.
Within this lose framework, Rupture's pragmatic, non judgement, experimental ethos offers the perfect space to explore, evolve and develop your work.
We see all the Arts as part of the same practice - whether prose or poetry, painting, sculpture or music, cultural theory or philosophy - we look at transferring and cross pollinating practices and approaches to help best realise your self as a writer.
James hosts writing workshops monthly at RuptureXIBIT. Additionally, James is available for a free 20 minute one to one consultation, works individually with writing mentoring clients, and offers a reader/comment service.
About Anna and methodology:
As a mentor, I believe it’s my job to hold a space that nurtures conversation, exploration and action. I aim, always, to recognise the vulnerability of sharing what you create, or hope to create, and especially the parts of your practice that you might be struggling with. As such, I aim to build a mentoring relationship that feels as safe and explorative as it does rigorous and productive.
There is a space opened up by conversation that allows us to see things anew, to find paths that we hadn’t realised were there, and to better understand our practice. Mentoring is a chance to have those conversations, a chance for us to learn together what your particular practice needs in this moment.
Out of this conversational space, I create tailored writing activities to encourage new ways of working, build skills, or focus your thoughts on a particular issue. These exercises feed the continued conversation as we get deeper into our exploration of your practice. They often lead to new work or new ways of working.
This looping process of conversation and action can be used short-term, to shift a creative block for instance, or as a longer process of ongoing exploration, depending on what works for you and your practice.
Rupture’s ethos of practice as foundational to creativity, of open communication, and ongoing discovery, aligns perfectly with my aims as a mentor. I have no secret formula for creativity, no one-size-fits-all template for practice – instead, I believe we can work together to discover more about your practice, and to develop skills and understanding that will move it forward.