Our writing courses and workshops are designed to help improve confidence, quality and writing style. They are aimed to inspire students to develop their unique powers of expression and are open to anyone who desires to write, whether beginner or experienced. The sessions provide techniques to enable participants to explore their voice from their cultural vantage point and appreciate the distinctive qualities of their chosen form. Constructive group and tutorial feedback are provided in an open, friendly setting, whether in-person or online. As well as our open classes, we offer bespoke bookings for all our courses. Do contact us for more information about our bespoke classes.
With the ‘Woman King’ starring Viola Davis, Hollywood is finally catching up with the amazing history of Black female resistance. BHW has been highlighting such stories since 2007 we therefore repeat our interactive, online course on the topic.
This 6 week online course will detail African/Caribbean women who have fought against colonialism and racism over the last 400 years as well as examine their varied spiritual belief systems. Mainstream history consistently ignores the contribution of Black women in general, but many of these women used indigenous spiritual belief systems to sustain their own ideologies and inspire their followers. African civilisations and belief systems were, and are, routinely denigrated by Europeans which has led to stigma and mis-representation.
This is the first half of a 12 week course. Part two dates will be announced shortly. Part One is a general introduction and Part Two will go deeper into specifics and new but related topics.
The Amazing James Baldwin: An exciting, interactive multi-media online course referenced by the recent Baldwin film dramatisation ‘If Beale Street could Talk’. This course also references the Oscar-nominated documentary ‘I Am Not Your Negro’. This six-week course is an introduction to James Baldwin and a selection of his works. The course draws on a range of written and visual material to present an overview of his writings and contributions to the questions of race and identity, examining how they continue to impact us now.
We will use obscure video clips of James Baldwin (interviews, speeches, TV appearances) and some of his most widely received fiction and non-fiction writing, including Going to Meet the Man, Sonny’s Blues, Notes of a Native Son, and The Fire Next Time. Rare photos, paintings, and sketches that capture his spirit are also included.
This workshop aims to help students explore the life writing genre. The session involves group interaction and exercises that enable participants to consider a selection of works by contemporary writers and initiate their own pieces on autobiography, biography and memoir.
An introductory workshop that helps students develop creative skills and explore their unique powers of expression. It allows aspiring writers to free their imagination and develop a voice through which they can express their own style and rhythm in their writing. The workshop is open to anyone who enjoys writing or aspires to write.
This workshop explores techniques of crafting written and oral forms of Poetry. We will consider the distinctiveness of poetry and spoken word from other literary art forms. Students will look at selected poems, from Caribbean Oral Tradition particularly where these have influenced the development of spoken word. They will have the chance to read/perform their poetry for discussion and feedback.
Students take part in a range of exercises to help unlock the way they uniquely see the world and want to express their ideas. Students will also be encouraged to ‘dig deep’ and develop the discipline to add specific details that will clearly express their meaning and creativity.
This creative writing exploration will focus on speculative and experimental fiction to create worlds and (re)imagined experiences centred on Africa: its past, present, and futures. African Spiritual Systems, Magical Realism, ‘Animism’, Oraliterature, Sci fi, Fantasy, Graphic Illustration/Novel are forms that can richly accentuate African history, politics (such as Pan-Africanism) and vast cultures, and project far-reaching, critically redemptive narratives on African futures. These themes will be debated and contextualised to underscore the ways they are used to situate Africa at the origin and centre of humanity.
