I have run many and varied courses in Creative Writing for members of the general public, primary school pupils and college undergraduates.

University and College writing:

I have run writing courses for students at Newman University, Bartley Green, Birmingham UK, where I lectured from 1994 to 2003. These writing collaborations led to three successful anthologies of verse:
Cardinal Numbers, May 1996;
N.E.W.M.A.N., May 1997;
Skating Vicar in Bedroom Surprise, May 1998.

Schools:

I have run numerous workshops with school children; a selection of these follows:

  • I organised and ran The Writing on the Wall, a series of workshops held at Worcester Art Gallery, Worcester UK, in July 1999. These were based on Here To Stay, an exhibition of contemporary British art, including Tracy Emin’s work, on show at the Gallery.
  • In August 2000, I ran another series of workshops, Roman Ways–Your Words, at the Commandery Civil War Centre in Worcester UK.
  • In June 2001, I ran a day of poetry workshops at St. Barnabas’ School, Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire UK, as part of the school’s ‘Book Week’ events.
  • In March 2002, I ran a series of workshops, Animals and Adventures, for schoolchildren in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
  • In July 2003, I ran poetry and music workshops for pupils at Conway Primary School, Sparkbrook, Birmingham UK, as part of their ‘Summer Reading Week.’ Topics included Being the Weather, Growing and How I Was and How I’ll Be; activities included setting the pupils’ poems to music. The workshops involved the entire school.
  • In April 2004, I ran poetry workshops on the theme of Fantastic Adventures at Eckington First School, Pershore, Worcestershire UK, as part of the school’s ‘English’ week. Activities included: reading my adventure poems and stories to the whole school, to set the scene for the day; singing and playing ‘adventure’ songs to pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 (ages 8 to 10); running poetry and illustration workshops for these years; leading a whole-school session in which the pupils read their poems and shared their illustrations.
  • In Spring and Summer 2007, I was writer-in-residence at three primary schools in Birmingham, as part of the Write On! Project to guide and encourage pupils in all aspects of their creative writing, including stories, poetry and plays for performance. My association with Write On! lasted from 2007 to 2010.

Adult Writing:

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I ran adult education courses in Creative Writing at the Coachhouse Arts Centre, Stourbridge, West Midlands UK, and at Westhill College, Birmingham UK. These courses were offered through the University of Birmingham School of Continuing Studies. Their themes included Personalising the Self: Exploring First-Person Narratives, Poetic Responses to the Twentieth Century and Adventures in Biography and Autobiography. The courses covered all genres of creative writing. I also ran the poetry elements in two further Birmingham courses: Year 1, Introduction to Creative Writing, and Year 2, Experimental Writing. I still have an association with the Coachhouse Writers group.

From October to December, 2004, I ran Creative Writing workshops in all genres for inmates at HMP Long Lartin, South Littleton, Worcestershire UK.

From March 2005 to March 2006, I ran monthly workshops for Sandwell Writers’ Group, at the main Sandwell Library, West Bromwich UK. Funded by Sandwell Arts and Poetry Central, the sessions led to the production of Many, Many Mondays, an anthology of the group’s work, which I edited. The anthology was launched in December 2006 at the Library, an event which attracted much positive response from public and media alike, leading to extensive interest in the group’s writing.