“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”
– Ernest Hemingway
My writing workshops are not think tanks of criticism but crucibles of creativity where great ideas could, and have been born. Not everyone is a born writer, but everyone has a story. I provide a safe, intensely creative space using a method I developed called Creative Meditation to break down the barriers between the conscious and the subconscious mind. This helps the participant coax urgent and vibrant messages from their imagination and memory banks. All the stories are there, waiting to be excavated, as Stephen King puts it in On Writing. Hidden fossils. Writing is a powerful act.
I teach predominantly three workshop series:
PENCRAFT,
workshops help the writer to hone their skill, forge the raw material they have into prose that works, with their own voice and hallmark. The rest is the continual polishing of the nuts and bolts, so that the surface shines and the reader falls into, as John Gardner puts it ‘the continuous dream’.
THE HERO’S JOURNEY,
workshops use Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth, a narrative structure ideally suited to screen writing and novel writing, but also adaptable for personal reflection and memoir writing. I use Creative Meditation and Myth to elicit authentic writing.
THE HEROINE’S JOURNEY,
is a dynamic exploration of aspects of the Feminine Journey through Creative Writing, Meditation and Mythology. Draws from the work of Maureen Murdock, Sharon Blackie, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Clarissa Pinkola Estés.
“Siofra’s writing workshops are easily described as the emotional metamorphosis so many seek and can never find. hic sunt dracones, here be dragons, says the world, and “here be dragons, close your eyes and feel the calm…”, she says. Beautiful journey this was!’ – Ishwari, Sri Lanka, The Hero’s Journey and the Heroine’s Journey
“The Hero’s Journey in person was my first proper foray into writing, and was a wonderful journey into adventure. The second I attended The Heroine’s Journey online, over two years and pandemic later. It was such a rich experience I will be forever grateful. The places opened by Siofra’s gentle yet powerful guiding light are almost beyond words – and yet words come, and it is our duty to listen. It is alchemy in action. I will return for more once I am sure!” – Fiona, Greystones, The Heroines and The Hero’s Journey
“I have taken many writing journeys with Siofra over the past number of years and I keep coming back for more because each time, I find new threads to explore in my own tapestry. siofra has a very special gift in being able to guide people towards their own deep, intuitive knowing, while allowing them the space to express their individual creativity. I highly recommend any of her writing courses. Enjoy the trip!” – Aine, Wicklow, The Hero’s Journey and the Heroine’s Journey