Six Days at Swanwick Writer's Summer School

I'm a 'white badger' at Swanwick Writers Summer School, Derby.  No, not a badger animal but a 'first time attender'.  We were given white coloured name badges to distinguish us from people who have attended before; they have yellow badges.  There are 50 white badgers amongst a crowd of 500 delegates and I have to say we have been made most welcome and cared for.
On the first evening 'Ambassadors' sit at the dinner table with us and help new delegates get to grips with how things happen in the dining room.  I have Lol Barnes to thank for taking my dietary requirements to the chef and organising a non-monotonous menu for my stay, which I was very grateful for.  (I can't eat anything with oil or fat in at the moment - so no fried or roasted foods).

The programme became my bible for the duration of my stay as I found myself referring to it at least six times a day to see 'what's next'; where in the lovely buildings I was meant to be and what course I was attending on any given day or part of the day.  Meal times and coffee break times were also important, as were times when the bookstall was open, the bar and The Hayes Conference Centre's own little gift shop.  For those able to enjoy the full range of foods and drinks available it would be hard to resist the biscuits and cakes at the break times and the puddings after lunch and evening meals.  Food for kings and queens - it was a banquet.

The green cheesecake with dried flowers on top was so
hard to resist as was the chocolate cake.
Fresh sweet strawberries were most welcome though.

For health and sanity reasons from Monday onwards I opted out of late night entertainment and one or two short course sessions in order to rest and actually write!  Here's what I did attend and thoroughly enjoyed :

• The First Year (White Badge) Reception - a lovely glass of red wine and welcome.
• After Dinner Guest Speaker - John Lamont - a very lively Scot who had us all laughing and learning at the same time.
• Short Stories - a 4 part course led by Linda Lewis who is a regular writer for women's magazines.  I will certainly be submitting more short stories to various magazines in the future.  Linda was clear, precise and a no-nonsense teacher.  Very good.
• Writing Picture Books for Children - a 2 part course led by Pat Belford which gave me the answer to questions about my own unpublished books that I needed to hear.  What a lovely gentle but informative class, much enjoyed.  Thanks to Pat for appraising my Children's Books.
• Facebook Group - a closed group of Swanwick writers was available to join and it was good to put faces to names of people who are on Facebook.
• Flash Fiction Workshop led by Veronica Bright.  Something I can do but haven't, will certainly be submitting a few of these too.  Thanks Veronica.
• Unwind your Mind group 4 sessions (see previous blog - scroll down) led exceptionally by Zana Lamont - practising Mindfulness, meditation and Tai Chi.

Unwinding - stretching, claiming the space around us, getting ready to meditate.

• After Dinner Guest Speaker - James Runcie - (Yes son of former Archbishop Runcie).  Very lively, informative and helpful.  Excellent.
• The Trickier Side of Fiction - a 2 part course led by Sue Moorcroft, Novelist. So well attended that people  were sitting on the floor.  This was so good and useful for my novel writing.   I bill this 5* alongside the Unwind your Mind classes.  
• After Dinner Guest Speaker - Kathryn Aalto, and American landscape designer, historian and lecturer living in Exeter.  She has written about the forest of 'a hundred acre woods' from Winnie the Pooh books.  Her power point pictures were lovely and hearing about her journey to being published was enthralling.
• After Dinner Guest Speaker - Michael Jecks (by now I was seriously flagging! Apologies to the evening next speaker for my non-show).
• Busker's night - where attenders of the Summer School took up their instruments or sang unaccompanied and entertained us.  Fabulous evening.  So much talent.
• Endings and Agents - led by Erin Kelly - which again was so informative and useful advice.
• Labyrinth walk - see previous blog - scroll down.
• Annual General Meeting
• Pantomime - A sketch about the perils of writing, the ghost of doubt did a good job of whispering in Trev's ear but his Big Pen and good angel Success won in the end.  Loved the songs - I will write 500 words; Paperback writer etc which the audience joined in with the choruses.

All of the above is probably only half of what was on offer.  As I was not firing on all cylinders so I had to miss some workshops in order to recharge my batteries.

I have to be honest and say that although I really wanted to attend the Summer School this year and was grateful for my family giving me Swanwick Writers Gift Vouchers last Christmas, I was thinking it was going to be a one-off experience like my Skyros holiday was last year (see blogs August 2015).  However, even before the first few days were behind me I knew I wanted to come again, as so many do.  Being in a setting where you can talk the talk all week is like being in a candy shop surrounded by your favourite sweets, or in a library surrounded by books, only its not so quiet here! Swanwick Vouchers will be on my birthday and Christmas wish list again.

My review : Excellent. 5 Star. Beautiful surroundings, caring Committee and helpers, brilliant chef, lovely waitresses and house cleaning staff, lovely writers everywhere, a wealth of knowledge to tap into. Brilliant. 

The joy of it all continues as everyone is reconnecting via a Closed Group on Facebook and on their own Facebook and Twitter accounts.  The photographs delegates are sharing is wonderful but by far the best are from Kay-Anne Sheen and Kathryn Aalto.  Here are my favourite four :

 by Kay-Anne Sheen

by Kathryn Aalto