Woolf Words

Impressed by what we've heard about Wayne McGregor's  ballet, #Woolf Works - if he can create a sense of the collage of ideas presented in Virginia Woolf's modernist, stream of consciousness writing, our hats are off to him.

Woolf herself said: "Words... are full of echoes, of memories, of associations. They have been out and about, on people's lips, in their houses, in the streets, in the fields, for so many centuries".  So true.

What a brilliant concept: the synaesthesia of the written word with dance movement.

Lets hope though, that this production isn't reduced to a Sylvia Plath-esque focus on Woolf's death. That would be such a waste, for it was life that was, is, in her words.

What Larks!

What larks we had at @Judsons_ last weekend - our Crime and Violence workshop was a resounding success and not least because the buffet lunch was so good - thanks again, Judsons for making us so welcome.

We explored a load of stuff: writing openings; avoiding cliche; how to handle violence; using fairy tale as a template for crime and violence stories.

We ate a load of stuff: quiche, potato salad, prawns with cous-cous, all manner of wraps with all manner of fillings.

We wrote a load of stuff, but none of us quite managed to 'step over the edge' and write the words of violence we were aiming for. We discovered we are all pretty clever at avoidance writing. Still working towards, then!

Thanks one and all for joining in and making it such a great day. We'll be back!

Beverley FM

We're delighted to be invited... to chat to #LesSmith @Beverleyfmonair about our writing workshops, so listen out for us!

Don't forget - April 18th is our Crime and Violence workshop where we'll be hanging out @Judsons_ for the day. If you'd like to join us, get in touch at our website www.thoughttree.co.uk. It'll be thoroughly wicked! (see what we did there? Yeah, we know.)

Thoughttree - working with Mind

We're excited to be working with Mind Hull and East Yorkshire (HEY) in April. Mind works so hard to support those with mental health difficulties - we're proud to be associated.

We'll be dropping in to Mind HEY HQ to deliver a one hour taster workshop, where we'll invite participants to recall an earlier memory and use it for therapeutic writing.

Thanks for asking Thoughttree, Mind. April 16th. 2 - 3pm. We'll be there.

It's Crime - and it's violent!

Fascinating to hear that Scotland Yard is to reveal some of the gruesome contents of its Black Museum... cooking pots which tell the story of Dennis Nilsen's efforts to boil away traces of murdered young men (his murders are uncomfortably recent; he is still in prison and it's unlikely therefore, in the interests of sensitivity, that these will be shown); gall stones and remains of dentures that survived in the sludge to betray Acid Bath Murderer John Haigh.

Couldn't make it up, could you? Or perhaps...

Join us at our latest writing workshop on Crime and Violence (The Upstairs Room, Judsons - April 18 - 10am - 4pm) - and find out how it's done!

LATEST SCOOP - REVEALED - CRIME AND VIOLENCE WRITING WORKSHOP!

STOP PRESS CRIME AND VIOLENCE WRITING WORKSHOP

• EXPOSE the murky world of Inspector Cliche!
• DELVE into the sinister world of fairy tale violence...
• UNCOVER how other writers do it!

Not a crime writer? Not a problem - it's for ALL writers!

When? Sat 18 April 10.00 - 4.00

Where? The Upstairs Room, #Judsons Pocklington YO42 2QW

How much? £65 inc lunch and refreshments - places are limited to 12. Book before 4 April for discounted rate of £60

Contact Ali 01759 305392 or Deb 07855042763

Goodbye to all that

We're mourning the loss of Sir Terry Pratchett - we have teenage sons and daughters who have been Discworld addicts. Writers like Pratchett are significant in building a fan base of young (and older!) male readers - no mean feat in our Playstation-Selfie world. Say what you like about the cosy Blyton world of Harry Potter, but J K Rowling has played her part too - again, sons and daughters alike, totally gripped.

So (apologies Mr Graves for pinching your words) its goodbye to all that talent; that inventiveness; the humour; above all, the satire.