The Project

Type of funding: Open Grant (between £500 and £2500)

The grant funded Laura Fyfe’s project ‘Write Out of Town’, a six week pilot series of five open and inclusive, professionally facilitated creative writing workshops and one performance event. Providing a much-needed open and welcoming opportunity for aspiring creative writers, they supported the emergence of new and diverse voices in literature from across the Stirling area. It drew on the strengths of key, experienced local organisations and professionals in order to begin to establish an open and welcoming writing community. In partnership with the University of Stirling, Stirling’s Ghost Walks, the Stirling Smith’s Writer in Residence, Sonnet Youth and Stirling Library Services (Covid guidelines-dependent), this was carried out with the aid of online videoconferencing software. Workshops were facilitated by professional tutors from the Stirling area, culminating in a friendly and relaxed performance event. The writing produced as a result of the workshops was showcased in a final performance event on Zoom. Write out of Town was driven forward by award-winning writer and workshop facilitator Laura Fyfe, a Director of the Scottish Writers’ Centre and an enthusiastically engaged member of the writing community in Scotland. Fyfe drew on her wealth of experience in writing workshop provision, event collaboration and project management. Each 90 minute workshop responded to the interests and needs of beginner writers, while still providing suitable challenge for more experienced writers. Workshops prepared participants for the final performance event by providing learning opportunities and the opportunity of feedback on their writing – with a focus on celebrating Stirling’s remarkable surroundings, people and history. The five workshops covered topics including: - Evoking place - Performing online - Feeding back in groups - Creating characters - Writing from experience - Storytelling - Submitting your work to competitions - Historical research.