‘You Are Here’ – peer to peer survivor writing – is Jet Moon’s second survivor writing platform with Spread the Word. Building on the previous Playing With Fire and funded by Arts Council England,‘You Are Here’ offers an expanded series of workshops, a writing group, and a new collaborative partnership with Wellcome Collection to curate a series of survivor writer interviews for the archive.
This page features information on offering one and how to apply. To find out more about the project as a whole, or to take a look at offering two – The Survivor Writers’ group here.
Offering one – The half-day survivor writers workshop, with optional follow-up session.
This is not a workshop about how to write the perfect sentence or develop page turning plot twists. It is a space where we can be together and explore the common issues in writing as survivors. How do we give ourselves permission to write? Ways to get started and how to keep going. What are the obstacles and the rewards of writing as a survivor? We will share skills and add to our practical toolkits for approaching writing; while connecting with using writing as a care-fully boundary-ed transformative process.
There is no obligation to write about hard stuff! You might be a survivor with a swag of brilliant nature poems. This is a place where we can see each other, talk about difficulties and triumphs, and encourage each other. The second half of the workshop will be dedicated to sharing and listening so we each have an opportunity to read our writing within a safe and limited audience.
Based on the original survivor writers workshop offered during ‘Playing With Fire,’ this is a half-day experiential workshop. A counsellor will be present and available if needed for checking in during the workshop. Workshops will be BSL interpreted if appropriate to participant’s access needs.
There will be an optional follow-up session offered at a later date for those who wish to check in and reflect on the workshop experience.
Who the workshop is for:
Women, non-binary and trans people who identify as survivors and live in the UK. This space will use an open definition of survivorship that includes but is not limited to survival of sexual violence. There are many things people survive, including homophobia, racism and transphobia. This workshop is not open to cis men. The workshop is open to all levels of writers but with an ethos of supporting the beginner writer to gain skills. All writing forms are welcome; fiction, non-fiction, poetry, blogs, monologues, performance texts. Writing processes that are an important part of your self expression and survivorship. The work does not have to be about what made you a survivor.
Details:
This half-day workshop will take place via Zoom, on Saturday 7 October and Sunday 8 October 2023. You may apply for ONE of these dates. The workshop runs from 11am to 3pm, split into two 1.5-hour sessions with a one-hour lunch break in between. The morning session will focus on the particular experience of being a survivor writer: with time for discussion, and short exercises on skills for survivor writing. The afternoon session will be a space for participants to share their writing, be a supportive audience, and to offer and receive positive feedback.
An optional group follow up session will take place a couple of weeks after the workshops. You can indicate if you’d like to attend this in your application.
Workshop capacity is for 13 participants on each day.
You can apply for both offering one and offering two, but we ask that you consider which of the offers feels most right for you at the moment, as capacity is limited and we want to be able to offer as many people an opportunity to be part of You Are Here as we are able.
Access:
Workshops will be BSL interpreted if appropriate to participants’ access needs.
Please tell us in your application what other access needs you may have, and how we could make the workshop more accessible for you.
A counsellor will be present during all sessions to offer private chat support. However, please bear in mind that the second part of the workshop time includes time to read and listen to each other’s survivor writing which may include triggering material, please consider your capacity to take care of yourself in this setting.
How to apply:
If you’d like to take part in this half-day workshop, please complete the submission form by 5pm on the 15 September 2023:
https://bit.ly/YouAreHereOffering1
All applications to the workshop will be looked at by Jet Moon and we will let people know if they have a place in the workshop by 29 September 2023.
If you have any questions about the workshop please contact [email protected]
Original Artwork for ‘You Are Here’ by Anka Dabrowska
Published Monday 17 July 2023