Writing
In 1992 I attended my first NATE conference for teachers of English. Quite by accident, I ended up in Jeni Smith's writing workshop. Since that time I have enjoyed writing alongside others, and have discovered more about its beneficial process - not just for learning, but for well-being too. As a result, I encouraged other writing teachers to write - for their own benefit as well as for the good of their pupils.
In 2009 Jeni and I set up the National Writing Project (UK) for teachers, establishing groups all around the country. From 2010-2019 I edited the NWP website and blogged monthly. The archive can be found here.
From 2019 The National Writing Project (UK) has been directed by Dr Jenifer Smith.
From 2017 to 2023, I led the Higgins Community Writing Group in Bedford - a group of 15 local writers who met at 11 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month - even, online, during lockdown! We wrote, experimented and encouraged each other. In 2019 we collected our work in a calendar and sold copies to raise £300 for our chosen charity: The Kings Arms Project, supporting Bedford people out of homelessness. Writing together can make a real difference in so many ways.
In red are links to some examples of the writing approaches we used - and some examples of my own writing.
In 2009 Jeni and I set up the National Writing Project (UK) for teachers, establishing groups all around the country. From 2010-2019 I edited the NWP website and blogged monthly. The archive can be found here.
From 2019 The National Writing Project (UK) has been directed by Dr Jenifer Smith.
From 2017 to 2023, I led the Higgins Community Writing Group in Bedford - a group of 15 local writers who met at 11 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month - even, online, during lockdown! We wrote, experimented and encouraged each other. In 2019 we collected our work in a calendar and sold copies to raise £300 for our chosen charity: The Kings Arms Project, supporting Bedford people out of homelessness. Writing together can make a real difference in so many ways.
In red are links to some examples of the writing approaches we used - and some examples of my own writing.