What is the role of storytelling in a time when the stories have failed, when people have stopped believing in a happy ending? When there is nothing left to say, what is there left to say? This workshop will explore the role of writing in these times of social and ecologica unravelling, how to bear witness, and make meaning, as we navigate collapse.
Over two participatory sessions we will look at how to forge a writing practice that can hold uncertainty, and widen our attentiveness to the more-than-human world. Between the sessions, we will be walking into our local territories – urban or rural, civilised or wild – to help us ground these words, and ourselves, as the year tilts into darkness.
Join Dark Mountain editors Charlotte Du Cann and Nick Hunt on a journey into what happens at the edges of things, in the gloaming and the twilight. Bring your memories, skills and ideas (and a notebook).
Practical information
The course comprises two x 2 hour group Zoom sessions, with time for a solo walk/encounter and a writing task during the week in between. It will include exercises and discussion and provide opportunities for:
- Working within a Dark Mountain frame
- In-depth conversation with fellow writers
- Editorial feedback on texts
- Deepening your practice
- Exploring relationship with the living world
When: Saturday 28th November and Saturday 5th December 4pm-6pm GMT. Note all times zones are welcome to participate.
Group size: 16 people maximum
Price: £50
How to apply: As the course has limited space and we are looking for a diverse group of writers please could you let us know a bit about yourself: where you are writing from, your writing practice and why you would like to take part in the course. A few sentences are fine!
PLEASE NOTE: THE APPICATION PROCESS FOR THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW CLOSED. Given the high level of interest we are hoping to run another series early next year, so do keep an eye out (we will announce via our regular Dark Mountain newsetter – see front page of website to sign up).
Tutors
Charlotte Du Cann is a writer, editor and co-director of the Dark Mountain Project. She has taught creative non-fiction and reconnection with the wild in many places, including Schumacher College, School of the Wild and Natural Beekeeping Trust, as well as participatory workshops for Dark Mountain. She is a regular tutor at Arvon, teaching the collaborative writing course, Fierce Words – Writing as if the World Mattered, with writer and theatre maker Lucy Neal.
Nick Hunt is the author of three books about walking in Europe (Walking the Woods and the Water, Where the Wild Winds Are and Outlandish), and a work of gonzo ornithology (The Parakeeting of London). He is also an editor and co-director of the Dark Mountain Project. As a storyteller he has performed at festivals around the UK, and he has led writing and storytelling workshops live and online.