April 2009
Writing Newsletter
The body makes the mind (John Donne)
Dear writer who is a writer when you write
Writing begins and ends with the body. The way our body
creates and moves, pumps and swishes, pulses, pauses, parallels the way we
write. Inside our skins breathes order,
beat, sequence, stress, repetition, rhythm,
sudden stops, modulations. The muscles
involve all our body structures, cells and synapses. The good news is that we can write from the body and translate these movements and subtleties within our body into words, sequences
and sounds.
And
when we read, not only our eyes following the line,
move. Our body translates words and sounds into physical and psychological
impressions. Meaning and sound ring
chemical changes in the body electric. Muscle tension echoes sense impression.
No
wonder the Psalmist cries, “We are wonderfully and gloriously made.” The entire human organism participates in our
writing.
So
let’s defer and refer
to our bodies as we create our texts.
Dorian’s
Haypril
Workshops
If you want any of these workshop in your area speak speak.
….To respond to two oft asked questions –
No
workshop is ever the same even if the looks as if it is. No one jumps into the
same river twice. As David
Wagoner writes: “No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to
Wren.”
And for those who feel they might be ‘put on the spot’
, I invite people to read their writing only if they wish to. You
may share in pairs or work in silence if that is your choice.
Ixopo Natal
The
Halo & the Noose: The Power of Story Telling/Story Listening in
Professional/ Personal Life (with Graham Williams)
27-29 March this weekend bookings
brcixopo@futurenet.co.za 039 834 1863
At the heart of this retreat is our belief that once we raise our Story
IQ, we begin to hear and tell our work and personal life in a new and vital
way. We open up to transformation and new leadership paths. Like the lotus
flower, we bloom and seed new beginnings. We reach into what may be murky
depths and produce something of infinite beauty and worth. In so doing,
prosperity and abundance take on new meanings. The retreat title is taken from
Graham and Dorian’s new book.
Writing Yourself Alive, A Creative Workshop
Sun 5 April 10.00 - 16.00 R390
Like crystals, words can absorb, reflect and give off
light
Writing is about a conversation with yourself and with others. An exchange of
energies. It is a skill drawn from attention and openness – an organic process rather than a
talent. In this workshop we explore our innate creativity and imagination and
find the words to tell our
stories… to make them more alive. We travel in search of our
personal myths - the stories that energise our lives.
The workshop also focuses on how to be present in your writing and engage the
reader as a creative partner. And source your bliss.
For more info Pauline 0716796957@vodamail.co.za 072 220 6204
Venue:
Stellenbosch
Writing and
Reading Conversations: Writing as a Sensory Wxperience
Sat 18 April (3-5-pm) R65 includes a glass
of wine or juice.
Attention closet writers, lovers of words,
book clubbers, book lovers. We explore
how our texts come alive when we write though the five and other senses. We
browse the books that surround us to see, hear taste, touch and feel how
published writers engage with us in this way.
My Bookshop Die Boord Christine /Mariekie 021-8872997/info@mybookshop.co.za
Journal
Workshop
22- 25April
Once more the generous sponsorship of the Carl Schlettwein
Foundation in
Into May…
Hogsback East
Thurs 7 – Mon 11 May (Thurs afternoon to Mon after lunch)
Celebrate the joy of being alive… a five day
extravaganza…even stood on Hogsback? Join East Cape poets Cathal
Lagan and Brain Walter and
Movement for Sharing Life Stories in
Once Upon a Life…The Power of Story-Telling R300
9:30 – 13:30 16 May (international
story telling day)
La Petite
(on the fringe at Franschhoek during the Literary Festival)
Our lives are stories. We tell them in our own voices. Climb
inside your story and tell it from the inside. Listen to it, Shape it. Taste it
on you tongue. Reconnect to creativity, memory and imagination. This workshop
experience will energise you. You’ll emerge with
stories in your heart and on your lips.
contact Kirsten Pearson Symphonia 082
936 1898 021 913 3507 kirsten@symphonia.net
"To
be a person is to have a story to tell" (Isak
Dinesen)
Louise van Rhyn (louise@symphonia.net www.symphonia.net ) explains the context for this movement
and the workshop:
Dear
people who care about South Africa
The Museum of the Person International Network and the Center for
Digital Storytelling have announced the 16th May 2009 as the Second International Day for Sharing Life Stories,
an international celebration of life stories. People interested in, or
currently involved in storywork, are invited to
gather in community halls, classrooms, public parks, theaters, auditoriums to
share their stories, regardless of their interests or focus. Here are
some examples of the type of event:
• Story Circles in people’s homes
• Public open-microphone performances of stories
• Exhibitions of stories in public venues as image, text, and
audio-visual materials
• Conferences discussing the issues of storywork
• Open houses for organizations with a life-story sharing component
The theme of the 2009 Campaign?
Journeys Toward Justice, The organizers are also
calling on participating organizations and the public to share 1000 stories (as
text, image, audio and video) related to Human Rights and Immigrant Rights as
part of the online campaign. The project website, www.ausculti.org,
will link to the stories from participating websites including
StoriesforChange.net, the Hub at Witness.org, storycenter.org and museudapessoa.net.
Dorian
Haarhoff has once more agreed to partner with us to create a capacity
building event for story hosts. The Day coincides with the Franschoek Literary Festival. Dorian's workshop will
be held on Saturday morning in Franschoek - an
opportunity to take a full day out and enjoy the Franschoek Literary Festival.
Other story
telling resources (a selected few)
|
Dorian Haarhoff's site
|
|
|
Story Corps (interview
your loved ones) |
|
|
Storytelling – passport
to the 21st century |
http://www.creatingthe21stcentury.org/Intro5-Why-storytelling.html |
|
|
http://www.storytellingcenter.net/resources/articles/simmons.htm |
All
people, black, white, brown, red, and yellow, are like each other when they
tell stories.
--Andrew Lang, preface to The Brown Fairy Book, 1904
Ongoing
activities
Development
Work
Last year the Storywell team I co-ordinate
completed a UNICEF project training caregives who
look after vulnerable children in story telling and listening. I’ve written
this up as a resource book (see site for details)
Corporate
Work
Story work in organisational development is
growing. Stories shape our world of work – leadership, training, mergers,
marketing, product development, client services,
strategic planning. Stories influence organisations (the
larger body) as much as they do individuals (the smaller body). Unconscious
stories can sabotage an organisation. Stories made
conscious can save it. When employees’ stories are heard and received, they feel valued as an asset and are more present at
work. They feel a sense of belonging and begin to use their initiative.
Speaking
Engagements
Be still when you have nothing to say but when genuine passion moves
you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot."( D.
H. Lawrence)
During 2009 I’m building up this aspect of my work.
Anywhere: Autumnal Stories at Home
This season I will be a storying
for groups of friends…an evening, wine, cheese, breads and tales for the
telling. Any rhyme or reason – birthdays, TV fatigue, the art of conversation, sommer. Gather a group for Autumn.
Mentoring
Walk with me in words. You put on one shoe, I
wear the other. Memoirs, mindfulness adventures, work in the word… genres
tumbling out of folk on the one-on-one path. Such a richness
of story here.
5-
Email Courses: Writer’s/ Poet’s Voice Course –
one-on–one tuition
Some folks respond to structure, assignments…
if so, ask and it shall be negotiated. Here is one possibility: Do you love reading and writing? This
one-on-one apprenticeship aims to take you further up the writing mountain and
offer you a deeper engagement with your craft. This course is structured in the
nature of an ongoing conversation with a few chosen writers or poets,
(ancestral or alive) with me and with yourself. I encourage you to keep a
journal to record your observations and reflections.
Books
Want to source a 100 stories? The Halo and
the Noose, the Power of story-telling and story listen in Business Life
with Graham Williams is out out out
through Pat Grayson of Graysonian Press. We run
corporate story workshops based on our book. R179.
A Book Review
John Paisley, MD of the Coaching Centre, www.thecoachingcentre.co.za writes:
This book offers pure enjoyment of
reading the numerous stories, and practical application for all who work with
people – coaches, facilitators, OD practitioners, HR, managers and leaders, AND
this is not an instruction book. It is something to dip into and become
submerged, because reading the stories takes you places, stimulates the
imagination. The learnings are not laboured – most times you need to develop your own
conclusions, metaphors, meanings and interpretations. “I see story as a
honeycomb, a structure to hold the honey” (Quote from a workshop participant)
Enjoy the chapter on story
listening in which the authors make the case for deep listening, creating space
for listening, listening to others and following the threads. Some wonderful
stories are told in the chapter titled “Five creatures and a blue guitar:
Coaching”, which is followed by a chapter on Mindfulness, “Authentic connection
is the core of quality relationship and mindfulness is a practice that opens
and depends on our capacities for connection” Following the launch of this
book, Graham and Dorian are planning a series of Master Classes to dialogue the
use of stories in organizations – watch this space!
For
orders
Graysonian Press Inspirational
books that change the world
www.graysonian.com
+27 11 6462956 or 0836101113
Writer-sites and
News (see site news on my web. see new web
address dorianhaarhoff.com The longer old one is linked to it.
May you embody your writing and may your
writing strengthen your heart.
Dorian
PS Thank you to all those who pass on this letter.
Dr Dorian Haarhoff
021 855 3937 / 082 873 6802/ fax 086 511 4751
http://dorianhaarhoffwriter.homestead.com
and dorianhaarhoff.com