Mother Writes: My first two Kenyan creative writing workshops

Tuesday, 8 October 2013

My first two Kenyan creative writing workshops

Story Jars

I have finally set the ball rolling and have given my first two sets of creative writing workshops here in Kenya (because really, I can't sit around all my life waiting for my novel to be published, can I.)

Last week I went to a suburb of Nairobi called Kiserian where, in a low-income school, I worked with two separate groups of 9 and 13 year old's who created ideas to go into story jars, brainstorming lots of characters, places and situations which served as the inspiration for stories. This week, I went to a British curriculum school (about 90% non-Kenyan) and worked with two groups of 7 year old's, using the theme of Halloween to write spooky poems (It is hugely helpful to have a 7 year old myself as I tested my workshop out on her the night before!). I loved both experiences, I really loved them. I feel like I have so many ideas and am very grateful to these two schools for essentially taking a gamble and letting me come in.

It was interesting as well to work in two such different schools because I obviously needed to think hard about subject matter relevancy to the vastly different life experiences of these children. But they all came up with some wonderful writing and now I'm just looking forward to being invited back and, hopefully, for more doors to open into other schools :-)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for taking the time to comment :)

Mother Writes...What's it all about?

When I was little, I imagined with the supreme confidence of a child that when I was all grown up, I'd be a celebrated writer. And by grown-up, I probably meant about eighteen. The concept of even reaching the age of thirty, let alone beyond, was off my radar and my seven-year old self shuddered at the ominious thought of not having published at least several novels by that grand old age.

Fast forward to the present. Here I am, age thirty-five, wife to a lovely hubby and mother to three gorgeous children. Now, am I writer? My seven-year old self would hold a very strong opinion on this: No, because I don't have a single published novel to my name. But I'm pleased to say that now I'm all grown-up, I'm also a bit more measured and realistic in my expectations of myself. Don't get me wrong - I love my seven-year old self for believing I could achieve that much but I have, over the years, come to an important conclusion:

If you dance, you are a dancer. If you paint, you are a painter. And if you write, you are a writer.

But we have to actually do it, not just talk about doing it. It's all too easy to procrastinate about our creative endeavours and that's all I ask of myself now: to create; to write. And if I'm lucky enough to get something published (which I'm pleased to say that I have done, in the form of short stories, reviews and articles), well, that's a bonus. And that's what this blog offers: little slices of honesty on my plate of life as mother, wife and creator of words. It's often not easy to juggle all three, particularly dealing with bouts of chronic insomnia. But I have to trust this is all part of the journey, and challenges are what make life interesting.