Open Book Neurodivergent Creative Writing Group

Open Book Neurodivergent Creative Writing Group

Shared Reading and Creative Writing for Neurodivergent participants

Select date and time

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 11:00 - 12:30 PDT

Location

Online

About this event

Join us for 90 minutes of Shared Reading and Creative Writing online. In this friendly and relaxed session for neurodivergent writers, we’ll be reading poems & stories together and using them to create our own writing in a gentle, guided session led by neurodivergent writer Emily Dodd.

More Information

What will the session involve

The Lead Reader will bring along stories and poems on a different theme each month and these will be read aloud before discussing them as a group. If you’d like to read aloud there will be opportunities to do so, but there is no pressure if you prefer to listen. After each section of reading, the Lead Reader will suggest a writing prompt to help inspire your own writing and there will be time to share this afterwards for those who wish to. These are starting points but you're welcome to write about something different to the theme too - if you get a sudden inspiration for something, we'd encourage you to go with it. We will have a short comfort break around half way through the session too.

We understand that you might want to turn your camera off for parts of the session - for example while you are writing. This is totally okay. We ask that you turn it on for the sections of group discussion or alternatively, use your microphone or the zoom chat box. We want everyone to feel comfortable and connected.

How to sign up

After booking your spot through Eventbrite, you will receive a confirmation email, plus a reminder email with the Zoom link to use 24 hours before and 1 hour before the session takes place. If you haven’t received this information please email admin@openbookreading.com and we will aim to get back to you as soon as possible. Places are limited so please let us know if you can no longer make it by cancelling your place on Eventbrite.

Please join the waiting room 5 minutes early and be sure to check your camera and sound. Be ready to start when we open the meeting at 7pm. Please note: participants who arrive 15+ minutes late may not be admitted.

Safe Spaces Framework

Open Book aims to be a safe space for all our participants and Lead Readers. This means our groups should be a place in which everyone feels welcome, respected and comfortable. We ask that you follow CARE (confidentiality, attention, respect, enjoy) and the Safe Spaces Framework each time you join a session. You can read the Space Spaces Framework here.

No experience necessary. Ages 16+

Learn more about Open Book www.openbookreading.com and sign up for the Unbound newsletter.

Frequently asked questions

Are Open Book events accessible?

All Open Book groups on Zoom provide access to Live Captioning. Large print materials are available by request for in person groups. Please get in touch at admin@openbookreading for any other questions regarding accessibility.

Does Open Book offer support to attend sessions?

Open Book offers an Access Bursary for those who struggle to attend our sessions, which can help with things like the cost of taxis to in person sessions, crèche/childcare, and data to attend online sessions. For more information, please contact info@openbookreading.com

Organised by

We organise and run weekly shared reading sessions for a diverse range of community and public participants across Scotland. Part of a book and a poem are read aloud during these relaxed and informal sessions, with an Open Book Lead Reader on hand to help guide the discussion. We regularly run creative writing sessions for our readers, using the material the group is reading as inspiration to create new writing.