Experiments in writing / art / hiking labs
A bit about how the labs will work
Inspired by what you’ve read on this website, but keen to explore the experiments with others rather than on your own? Over the course of the summer / early autumn I am running the following 6, day-long Writing, Art & Hiking labs. Each day out on the fells will focus on one particular experiment / associated route, but over the course of the day there will also be the chance to try out some of the other experiments. I’ve grouped the sessions together, to enable you to make a weekend of it if you so choose, but you are also welcome to just book a single day. Each day includes access to a subsequent evening’s writing workshop where you can share your resultant work with others, and receive feedback. The courses will be run by myself (an experienced writing tutor / artist and qualified mountain leader), and there will be a maximum of 10 people per day, and a minimum of 5 to make it worthwhile for the day to go ahead.
Concessions
Thanks to funding from the Lake District National Park authority, I am able to offer a 30% discount to up to 4 people per course who identify as BPOC (black or a person of colour), LGBTQIA+, as having a disability, or who live in Cumbria and are low waged (eg earns less than £20k per year) or in receipt of benefits (please email me to make a booking since it isn’t possible on this web hosting platform to offer variable prices). If you are a member of one of these groups but can afford the full rate then I’d be grateful if you could pay the full amount and leave the place to someone else who might be more in need.
Important into
Please note that the courses don’t include food, accommodation or equipment. It is your own responsibility to organise the above, and to ensure that you are suitably equipped for the conditions (a minimum of full waterproofs, hat and gloves, and suitable walking shoes or boots). Please check the route description before signing up in order to be confident that it is within your abilities (I’m happy to advise if you send me an email). You will be asked to sign a disclaimer at the start of the day agreeing that you are responsible for your own actions and safety. We shall convene at the start of each day at 9.30am, and should be finished by 4.30pm-ish. On occasion we might convene elsewhere if parking is limited at the start of the route, and share cars.
Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line on thisisscree@gmail.com with any queries. And I look forward to seeing you there!
Do as Dorothy Did
Aim of the experiment: To ‘be’ in place, without focusing on doing anything in particular, or achieving anything in particular. This experiment encourages you to notice what is around you that you might normally rush past on your way to a destination or to reach a certain point. It is an exercise in listening to your body and its needs, in relationship to the wider world. It asks you to stop along the way, to pause, to reassess your surroundings, to notice what others don’t simply by being yourself, in place, drawing on pacing techniques used to manage pain and other physical symptoms. It is an exercise in companionship with place and with the more-than-human world; in recognising your own body as part of a wider eco-system.
Skin Memories
Aim of the experiment: To explore the relationship between the body and different landscapes through the notion of ‘skin memory’, and thereby to challenge the coded whiteness of the lyric ‘I’ in the Romantic lyric.
What's in a name?
Aim of the experiment: To enquire into how we name (and frame) the mountains and other physical features of the landscape, and how we might do so otherwise through a more embodied engagement with (and movement through) them.
Re-wording Wordsworth / Re-turning Turner
A day in two parts, involving a morning responding to the Re-wording Wordsworth experiment, and the afternoon responding to the Re-turning Turner route, involving elements of both writing and visual art / photography.
Thinking as Water
Aim of the experiment: To think as water thinks during a walk (plus swim if you like) along the River Derwent (or any other watercourse) from source to sea as a means of gaining insight into broader environmental questions. To encourage us to move away from the binary ways of thinking which assume that the ‘natural world’ is here to serve our needs, and to realise that we are a smaller part of the picture than we usually assume.
Loopy Binsey
Aim of the experiment: To challenge our peak-bagging instincts (and how we translate target-driven thinking to the outdoors) during a slower, more exploratory & mindful experience of the fells.