Creative Workshops 2008
Sept Writing Newsletter
Inside this clay pot are
canyons and pine mountains.-and the maker of canyons and pine mountains (Kabir)
This weekend… this Sunday 31 Aug… this
weekend… space for four more on the bus
Newlands,
Breathing, Words and Being: Discovering Meaning through Creative Writing
see below
Dear writer
At a recent narrative therapy conference in Som
West (I hang out with these fine folk) we were asked to list how engaging
with poetry affected us. People responded that it opened them to words,
listening, music, rhythms, to irony and ambiguity, to being present, to the
beat of their hearts. We were then asked to reflect on other experiences that
produced the same effect. It’s about living poetically. H C Bosman,
the Oom Schalk creator,
also a poet, believed that you can tell a poet by how he/she lives. Living the
questions as Rilke advises the young poet (Letters
to a young Poet) Seeking aliveness.
As we come to such an awaking, we find ourselves breaking through to
new ways of being and seeing. Gurus abound to help us make the shifts in
jumping out of all the boxes within boxes. The true guru finger points back to
us.
I find my apprenticeship mostly in the lived wisdom of writing
friends and in books. These bring me the aha that
echoes inside the clay pot. Of late reading Jacob Needleman’s The Heart of
Philosophy and Roz and Ben Zander’s
The Art of Possibility . (Heard him conduct Beethoven’s Ode to
Joy –yes yes yes ) And
then there the stories that lead us inside to Kabir’s
canyons and pine mountains:
A pilgrim comes across a sign at the
foot of the mountain. “If you want to see the most beautiful Buddha in all the world, climb this mountain,” The pilgrim climbs to
the top and wanders around but can find any Buddha statue. Eventually she/he
stumbles on a tiny brass plaque with the words. “ If
you can’t find the Buddha, you’d better descend and start climbing up again.”
I’m grateful to those folk I re-met and met this month – in
conversation, mentoring and at workshops - the Buddhist Retreat Centre, My
Bookshop, the Durban University of Technology, an adventurous Company in
Pretoria. Folk seeking to live and work poetically. Inside out.
At the recent retreat in the hills that Paton evoked – “There is a lovely road that
runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and
they are lovely beyond any singing of it…. The grass is rich and matted, you
cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the
ground, feeding the streams in every kloof.” - “I’d planned a walking meditation. Since it was raining, we walked inside
ourselves. (for the body does not distinguish between
an actual and an imagined experience) This poem arrived:
Walking
Meditation
the bird calls. we
rise
from mat and pad
and follow its path.
robes swish and sway.
a light wind runs along arms.
step in single file
circle the Buddha who sits
unmoving in the middle,
bird perched in a branch.
round the labyrinth
silent at centre.
we shape an outer ring.
hoop the zen
garden
where bird lights on a rock.
wing and feather led, we
loop back to the hall
where we sink onto mats
still as the candle wick.
and all the while,
between gongs,
we have sat here still
under rain on the roof.
yet we find Buddha.
labyrinth, zen garden
all inside us now
after the imagined
ankle flex, arm swing shuffle
follow of the bird.
Stop Press
There’s less activity in Sept as I’m away 7-19 in
Dorian’s Workshops
Newlands,
Breathing, Words and Being: Discovering Meaning through Creative Writing
Sun 31 Aug 09.30 –16.00 (registration 09.15) R380
I know that there is room in me for a second huge
and timeless life (Rilke)
Explore the meaning that is unique to you in your life, through the
art of creative writing.
You will be guided in a process that will help you ask questions about
the purpose of your existence. You will explore your creativity and imagination
and find words to tell your story… to infuse that story with meaning and make
it more alive. The workshop also focuses
on how to be present in our writing and engage readers and ourselves as part of
a great conversation that opens into mystery.
Bring a light lunch, paper and pens, and a small blanket (If
you need one)
Thank you artist Gabby van Heerden (see her
www. circlestories wow mandalas) for putting together
this workshop. contact me (see below)
Stellenbosch
Pastel, Prose and
Presence Workshop
6
September 14:00-17:30 R300 (includes
all materials and refreshments)
Prose is a coloured window, the
colours can be seen only when a candle is lit behind it.
Join
Dorian and Margaret Laubser, a process art facilitator, as we light a candle
behind prose. Explore colour through a pastel picture exercise and mindful presence, as we craft the written piece. No art or
writing experience needed. Please confirm with Margaret: 021 851 7678 Cell: 082 747 0530 mlaubser@eartheart.co.za
Two Sept. events at the Wakkerstroom Country Inn
Want come to Wakkerstroom
over the 26- 28 Sept? (3,33 hrs drive SE ex
Egoli) Why not
stay over at the
A Wakkerstroom
Creative Writing Workshop
Sat 27 Sept 09.30 – 12.45
(registration 09.15) R210
The good news? Everybody has a story to tell and anybody
can write. Writing is not a talent. It is a learnt skill. This workshop
gets you started so you can glide across the page. Connect to your creativity
and imagination and be at home with words. The workshop shows you how to reach
your readers.
Beginners are welcome. Dorian has shown many people how to find the writer hiding inside
them. Come and learn
to ‘dance.’ Bring writing materials.
Wakkerstroom Arabian Nights Evening
Fri 26 19.00 (possible repeat Sun 27)
You are invited to join us for an evening of fun, laughter and
great middle eastern food & wine, with Arabian
Nights, Rumi and Nasrudin stories. Listen to tales of
love and intrigue, as you savour traditional delights from the middle east.
Octember on….
Egoli
Imagine
Life (Coral Wilder) invites you to
a Workshop series that I’m facilitating
Contact
coralw@telkomsa.net 011 622-8793 083 450-9148 for venue and costs.
Discovering Meaning through Creative Writing: ‘Finding Meaning though Words’
Sun 19 Oct 09.30
-13.00
I know that there is room in me for a second huge
and timeless life (Rilke)
Explore the meaning that is unique to you in your life, through the
art of creative writing.
You will be guided in a process that will help you ask questions
about the purpose of your existence. You will explore your creativity and
imagination and find words to tell your story… to infuse that story with
meaning and make it more alive. The
workshop also focuses on how to be present in our writing and engage readers
and ourselves as part of a great conversation that opens into mystery.
Talk to
Coral about these themes:
A Book of Nights and
Days ‘Keeping a Journal’
Finding the Fire ‘Rekindling our
passion for Life and Work’
Hogsback East Cape– Writing, Reflecting, Being
Mon 24 – Fri 28 Nov
Join East Cape poets Cathal Lagan and
Brain Walter and
Ongoing activities
Stellenbosch: Increase your Joy: Read Like
a Writer
The books we love
are our first teachers. They offer private lessons in the art of writing. Attention closet writers, lovers of words, book clubbers, book lovers, I
offer interactive talks on how to enhance your writing/reading pleasure and
enrich your bookclub evenings. We consider how
readers read, and how writers read other writers. (next one at My
Bookshop Die Boord, Stellenbosch 23 Sept (6-8pm) R65
includes a glass of wine or juice.
Anywhere: Spring Stories at Home
This season I have been a storying for
groups of friends…an evening, a fire, wine, cheese, breads and tales for the
telling. Any rhyme or reason – birthdays, TV fatigue, the art of conversation, sommer. Gather a group for Spring.
Mentoring / Email Courses
Memoirs, adventures, consciousness, work in the
word… genres tumbling out of folk on the one-on-one path. Such a richness of
story here
5-
Some folks respond to structure, assignments… if so,
ask and it shall be negotiated.
Poetry for
Publication (PFP)
Bob
Commin and I guide you in writing and selecting your poems for a solo self
publication
Books x Three
Corals
Publishers is publishing one of my children’s stories, The Water Diviner.
Should be out by Christmas.
The
Halo and the Noose, the Power of story-telling and story listen in Business
Life with Graham Williams will be out by Nov..
We run corporate story workshops based on our book. (look
at my site for details.) Here is one
response to the manuscript:
Just wanted to let you know what a
brilliant read it was. The Halo and The Noose is truly
motivational and energizing. The book inspires us to learn from individual life
experiences and organisations will undoubtedly achieve business success through
developing their people in this way.
(Stephanie E Edwards M D Customer 1st International Ltd
The
Achilles Heal, The Healing Art and Craft of Poetry with Bob
Commin will be out mid 2009.
For
2009 Conscious Living Diary jam-packed with quotes, poems, recipes,
play-dates and gardening-by-the-moon tips contact linda@stillpoint.co.za
Competitions (repeated from Aug)
Thank
you Deborah Horn-Botha, Secretary - SA PEN for this information: PEN/STUDZINSKI Literary Award. See website, www.sapen.co.za.
The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition 2008. You can enter now at http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/npc/
Workshops/Literary
Events with other Folk (repeat info)
Bob Commin (poet,
creativity coach, storyteller and pastor) runs poetry courses/events in the
Southern Suburbs (
Spirituality Group meets every month (2nd
Tues) 6.30 pm at home of Mandy Young,
Writer-sites
and News (Repeat info)
Lynette Steel (thanks Lynette) highly recommends Robert
McDowell, Poetry As Spiritual Practice:
Consuelo Roland writes
My website called www.goodcemeteryguide.com
is now live. It uses my novel The Good Cemetery Guide as a starting
point to explore the topic of death in our society and how we handle it, from a
cultural perspective.
Helen Brain, author, has begun writing
for a Canadian web-zine (specifically about writing
for children) see link at: http://writingforchildren.suite101.com/
Source new opportunities every month. Check out Lee Cahill’s www.sabookworm.com
Thanks you Lee for a site that informs and supports writers. This is writer
good news.
Wordsetc a South African Literary Journal
Loosely based on the idea of The New Yorker, this is a new literary journal to
look out for.
Writers need to read as part of self-tutorship. I suggest you
subscribe to New Contrast (poetry and prose) – 4 copies per annum. www.newcontrast.net. Hugh Hodge, the editor is doing a fine job for writers. Thank you Hugh. Submissions
to ed@newcontrast.net - price is on the website.
May you wander in those canyons and pine mountains.
Dorian
PS Thank you to all those
who drop this letter as a stone a pond.
Dr Dorian Haarhoff
021 855 3937 / 082 873 6802/ fax 086 511 4751
http://dorianhaarhoffwriter.homestead.com