Thinking back, we may still remember our first encounters with the written word: our own, or in books, or both.
Turning the pages of novels, stories, diaries, memoirs, biographies, and collections of poetry, we will have been left feeling differently enough about ourselves that, sooner or later, a greater sense of vitality and common desire encouraged us to try out our own voices on the quiet, safe silence of a blank page.
But have you also perhaps wondered from time to time how our words come to us? We say, even without thinking twice about it, things like, “You know, it suddenly struck me that” or “Before I realized what I was saying” or even “the characters” or “the poem” seemed “to take over” or maybe only to ourselves, “I must write that down”.
What is happening in those moments ? And do we, often enough in our writing, allow them to happen, rather than being self-burdened with a sense that we really ought to write something, or why don’t the ideas come, or, dolefully, I haven’t written anything for ages…
No matter how little or how much we have written so far in our lives, and absolutely no matter whether we have published or not, the desire to hold our written voices up for others to listen to or read can be valuable to us, however uncertain we feel about the value those others may find in it.
Do Words Choose Us? is designed to help you explore how it is that one moment we are staring at something we find “difficult to put into words”, the next brushing that difficulty aside as we feel ushered into a fluency.
We will read and write and talk about it all. There will be plenty of quiet moments for writing and reflection. And most importantly of all, you will only need to write the way you personally feel and think.
Graham Fawcett has led writing days, weekends, and longer courses in London and Southern England over the last thirty-five years.
He was involved in the setting up, and later the day-to-day running, of the Arvon Foundation’s Devon centre – Totleigh Barton at Sheepwash near Hatherleigh and has been involved in teaching and broadcasting ever since.
He is getting to be better known in the South West and elsewhere for his lecture-performances-with-readings at literary festivals (including in Taunton and Bridport) and in art galleries, pubs and bookshops.
2017 appearances will feature venues in Exeter, Topsham, West Bay, Lewes, Taunton, Farnham, Lancashire and Ireland as well as North and South London.
His website has further details of his work at www.grahamfawcett.co.uk, where the events calendar offers a regularly updated list of new events.