Cardiff Summer Writing Workshops with Radha

Cardiff Summer Writing Workshops with Radha

Creative writing workshops exploring human duty and inter-species solidarity through folklore, coversations and rituals.

By Radha Patel

Select date and time

Location

Made in Roath

1A Inverness Place Cardiff CF24 4RU United Kingdom

Refund Policy

Refunds up to 7 days before event.

About this event

  • Event lasts 2 hours 30 minutes

The Bird That Brings Hope

The Bird That Brings Hope is a creative workshop led by artist Radha Patel. It follows the story of the ‘Chitibuck’ - a blue feathered bird that lives on the Planet Luz. In the lore of our galaxy, its duty is to travel to other planets and collect the hopes of different species, and keep them in its stomach. When it dies, these hopes nourish the sacred ground beneath our feet.

In 2025, the Chitibuck arrives in Wales.

Different folklore from around the world, including Wales, sees birds as guides, mentors and carriers of messages between the human realm and the underworld. So much of this has been lost to colonisation which only sees birds as commodities – to eat, to wear and so on. The purpose of this workshop is to unravel human supremacy and to think about our connections other species and our duty to each other.

Through a series of conversations, storytelling, creative writing excercises and clay building we'll welcome the bird to Wales and explore the question 'what is our duty to each other?'.

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When: Sunday 6th July and Sunday 3rd August 10:30am 4pm including a lunch break.

Please bring a packed lunch or something to share if you're able to. Tea, coffee and fruit will be provided along with a vegan + gluten free salad to share. There are lots of places to grab a lunch on Albany and City Road less than 10 minutes away.

There will be two breaks - a small 10 minute break at around 12pm and a larger 1 hour lunch break at 1pm.

For more information please see below.

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Future Songs For The Past

Future Songs For The Past is a short creative workshop, where participants will write a letter to their past self, based on the teachings of a song from their present. What moment from the past would you like to sooth or to give advice to, to make the journey easier?

Would you like to give this advice to yourself or someone else?

Come and take part in a series of short writing excercises, conversations and a guided ritual.

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When: Sunday 20th July, 10am - 1pm OR 2pm - 5pm.

This workshop does not include a lunch break, but please bring food if you need to. There will be a 10 minute break during each slot.

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Event Information

Where: All workshops held at: Made in Roath, 1a Inverness Place - CF24 4RU

Accesibility

Made in Roath is a small two storey building. Our workshop will take place on the first floor - slight step at the entrance. The bathroom is on the second floor following a narrow staircase. There is a small kitchen on the first floor with a kettle and sink.

  • All workshops will be delivered in English.
  • Each workshop is limited to 10 people + facilitator to account for the small space, and we'll go as gently as possible.
  • There will be breaks.
  • Please note any access needs when you book your place and I'll try my best to accomodate.
  • All materials will be provided.

These workshops are open to everyone, no prior experience of writing is needed.

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Image description

Reads: Summer Workshops 2025

The Bird that Brings Hope, Sunday 6th July 10:30am - 4pm

Future Songs for the Past, Sunday 20th July 10am - 1pm or 2pm - 5pm

The Bird that Brings Hope, Sunday 3rd August, 10:30am - 4pm.

The text is blue. The workshop names, dates and times sit separatley on two cream blocks with jagged edges.

In the top left corner is a bird pink bird skull drawing with black holes for eyes. Top right: a drawing of a purple stomach. Bottom right is a drawing of a mound of soil.

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About the artist

Radha is a storyteller whose work intersects across colonialism, nature, religion, rituals, language, folklore and speculative futures. Writing is at the heart of her practise so any work that she makes always involves a text, alongside a physical or tangible element that people can interact with such as sculptures, prints, drawings, audio, installations, films and an invented language called Etsolstera.

Throughout history, humans have travelled fluidly between our world and the ‘underworlds’ or ‘otherworlds’. Folklore tells us so much about what we can learn from these travels including how people resisted colonisation, re-built what was destroyed and practised solidarity with other species.

Radha’s practise explores folklore throughout history, and uses storytelling to build new ways of re-connecting us to our human ancestors, our ancestors that are other species and all the delicate magic that is being lost through colonisation. She works with older and existing folklore from Wales and India and also creates new folklore about rituals, magical objects, imagined lands and new planets.

https://www.radhapatel.co.uk

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