Words Will Work: South Auckland Writers Festival  26 - 27 October 
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WHEN: Saturday 27 O October 9:00 AM - 10:30AM
WHERE: Conference Room, Mangere East Community Centre, 372 Massey Road
Limited places.

​Memoir is the ideal genre for people young and old, to discover their writing voice because this is your story, you know it best. You have the skills to express your experience in your own words.
On this workshop with experienced teacher Deborah Shepard, you will be introduced to techniques that will assist you to unlock your creative voice in a safe and friendly environment. The session will also include a talk on the joy of writing memoir, a definition of memoir and an introduction to a reading list including excerpts from some of the great autobiographies and memoirs. There will also be a writing exercise: 'A defining childhood memory'. 

Identify key writing strengths and continue developing those skills through journaling.

We are living through increasingly turbulent times, in an age awash in digital content that is often edifying and conducive to creativity but equally, it can be disruptive to concentration and to maintaining a calmer and more contemplative mode of living.

This journalling workshop presented by an experienced tutor and journaler Deborah Shepard offers a quiet sanctuary where you can reconnect with your inner life and find out what you are thinking through writing exercises, and discussion and analysis of the form with reference to some of the great journalers.

WHEN: 4 x Saturday 9, 16, 23 and 30 June, 9:30am-2:00pm
WHERE: The University of Auckland
COST: $310.00 incl. GST

Everybody has the skills to write their life story. Life Writing with Deborah Shepard is designed for people who have never written before and participants who already enjoy writing in other genres and want to try memoir.
Under Deborah’s gentle guidance you will experience a summer writing school like no other. You will have five blissful days to indulge your dream and write your heart out in a collaborative and supportive environment.
WHEN: 5 mornings, Monday 15 - Friday 19 January, 9:30am - 1:00pm
WHERE: The University of Auckland, Building No. 810, 1-11 Short Street, City Campus
COST: $300.00 incl. GST

Limited to 15 participants

On the final evening of the 2016 Master Classes in Memoir, at the Michael King Writers Centre, I sat in the sitting room, beneath the portrait of New Zealand historian and biographer Michael King by Annette Isbey, and observed nine writers, their heads bowed in concentration, hands moving swiftly across the white page, writing with the timer on, fifteen minutes only, writing rapidly, as I have trained them to do, free of the censor judging their work, because they know that when the timer rings there will be additional time, immediately, to edit what they have just written.

​The only sounds in the room were the rubbing of pens over paper and the fridge humming in the kitchen next door. Below in the garden mutabilis roses were still flowering in May amongst the pale purple and lilac velvet flowers of salvia Leucantha and the spikes of orange and pink dahlias while over the sweep of grass, above the road that winds down the volcanic cone of Takarunga, I could see the city shining across the slick of black water that is Waitemata harbour at night. Again and again I feel the magic of this special setting.

Everybody has the skills to write their life story. Life Writing with Deborah Shepard is designed for people who have never written before and participants who already enjoy writing in other genres and want to try memoir.

Under Deborah’s gentle guidance you will experience a late Spring life writing workshop like no other. You will have five blissful days to indulge your dream and write your heart out in a collaborative and supportive environment.

WHEN: 5 mornings, Monday 17 - Friday 21 July, 9:30am - 1:00pm
WHERE: The University of Auckland, Building No. 810, 1-11 Short Street, City Campus
COST: $285.00 incl. GST

Limited to 10 participants

Take a journey of self-exploration through the process of journalling. 
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WHEN: 4 mornings, Saturday 22 April - 13 May, 9:30am - 2:00pm
WHERE: The University of Auckland, Building No. 810, 1-11 Short Street, City Campus
COST: NZD$265.00 incl. GST

​We are living through increasingly turbulent times, in an age awash in digital content that is often edifying and conducive to creativity but equally it can be disruptive to concentration and to maintaining a calmer and more contemplative mode of living.
​
A journalling workshop with experienced tutor and journaller Deborah Shepard offers a quiet sanctuary where you can reconnect with your inner life and find out what you are thinking through writing exercises, and discussion and analysis of the form with reference to some of the great journallers. This  workshop will appeal to people wanting to use the journal for self-exploration, or to develop formal writing skills for other projects, or to chronicle and preserve your daily observations of the world, from the humble and small, to the splendid and sublime.

View from the historic Signalman's Cottage, Michael King Writers' Centre, 2016. Photo: Josie Irving