Wednesday 1 November | 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Wednesday 8 November | 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Wednesday 15 November | 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Wednesday 22 November | 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Wednesday 6 December | 2:30pm – 4:30pm (Sharing followed by festive gathering)

Are you a woman who has never had the chance to tap into your creativity?  Maybe you would like to learn how to tell your life story or the stories of others that you’ve gathered over the years?  Or just to be creative with words in some way?  Now here is your chance.

The Women Speak Volumes workshops with two accomplished writers to help you learn how to craft words.  Four in-depth workshops, taking place each week in November are followed by a pause to prepare before everyone has a chance to share their work in the final session.  Along the way, our experienced tutors will read your work and give you close feedback. This is a unique opportunity to take that first step into creative writing.

Our tutors are: Cheryl Martin and Sandra Pollock

Cheryl Martin, Strategic Director of Manchester’s Black-led literature Arts Council NPO Commonword and Co-Artistic Director of ACE-supported Black Gold Arts [nominated for a 2021 and 2023 Manchester Culture Award; commissioned for Eurovision’s Cultural Festival], was a former Associate Director, New Writing/New Work at Manchester’s Contact Theatre.
Selected for the 2019-2020 British Council Australia INTERSECT programme, Cheryl also directed The Walk: A Sleeping Child for 2021’s Manchester International Festival, which launched giant puppet Little Amal’s journey. A Manchester Evening News Theatre Award winner as writer [Heart and Soul, Oldham Coliseum] and director [Iron by Rona Munro, Contact], Cheryl’s solo show Alaska featured in 2016’s A Nation’s Theatre and 2019’s Summerhall Fringe and Wellcome Festival of Minds and Bodies in London. Her first poetry collection Alaska was longlisted for the 2015 Polari Prize.  Her film One Woman, an Unlimited Wellcome Collection Partnership Award, toured festivals including the Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre, Barcelona’s L’Altre Festival, and Edinburgh’s 2021 Summerhall Digital Fringe.

Sandra Pollock OBE is the founder and director of Open Mind Training and Development, Inspiring You CIC, SHINE Together CIC, the Women’s Awards and CEO of Inclusive Companies Consultancy. She’s also a motivational speaker, a reiki master practitioner, a freelance radio presenter, author and poet.  Sandra Pollock has been instrumental in creating a space woman from marginalised culturally diverse voices of Leicester running creative writing programmes and setting up SanRoo Publishing along with her daughter. In addition she has spearheaded the now annual Women’s Poetry Competition, which celebrates and recognises Black female poetic voices.

Women Speak Volumes is part of a project run by Speaking Volumes and funded by Arts Council England. The first part of the project created a free Inspiration Bank to help older women to develop their creativity.  This workshop programme is led in partnership with Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage.

For more information visit: https://speaking-volumes.org.uk/women-speak-volumes/

Notes

This course is aimed at ‘older’ women approximately 41 years old and older, based on half the average life expectancy for a woman in the UK from the Office of National Statistics, although this is guidance and we do not require a statement of age.

We welcome those who identify with our aim of celebrating and supporting women telling their stories in ways that reconcile with their understanding of their own gender identity. This includes trans women, non-binary and cis women.  We do not require any statement beyond a woman’s self-identification and interpret a booking or expression of interest as confirmation of that identification.

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage welcomes women from all backgrounds to participate. We are passionate about amplifying the voices of the African and African Caribbean Diaspora for everyone to learn from and engage with.

There is no session on Wednesday 29 November.

Please note that due to the nature of being based in a historic building, Dialogue Box and toilets are currently only accessible by a flight of stairs. If you have any questions about accessibility, please do not hesitate to contact 0116 482 1394 or email info@serendipity-uk.com