Poetry Workshop with Rebecca Sharp

The Scriptorium, Arbroath Abbey
17 January & 24 January | 10.30–11.30

Set within the historic surroundings of The Scriptorium at Arbroath Abbey, these workshops invite participants to explore the ways stories are preserved, forgotten, or reinvented. Drawing on ongoing research into the Abbey and conversations with the local community, we are beginning to uncover remarkable figures and narratives—some drawn from recorded history, others from oral tradition, imaginative speculation, or the faint traces left by time. These sessions offer a rare chance to engage creatively with these emerging stories, while also developing your own.

Led by poet and playwright Rebecca Sharp, the workshops are designed for writers of all backgrounds and levels of experience. Whether you are taking your first steps into creative writing or are an established writer seeking fresh inspiration, you will find guidance, structure, and space to develop your ideas.

What to Expect

Across each one-hour session, Rebecca will introduce approaches to uncovering or inventing stories that deserve attention—those overlooked, hidden, marginalised, or entirely new. Participants are encouraged to arrive with a subject already in mind:

• Historical figures from any period
• Forgotten ancestors or family memories
• Local legends or small but meaningful community stories
• Other species, giving voice to plants, animals, landscapes, or ecological processes
• Fictional, mythic or fantastical subjects, from dreamscapes to imagined worlds

No prior knowledge or research is required, though simple notes or background information may be helpful if easily available. The emphasis is on creativity, exploration, and allowing the story to reveal itself.

Working with Rebecca Sharp

Rebecca Sharp’s body of work spans poetry, theatre, interdisciplinary performance and research-led artistic practice. Her recent poetry collection Long Field Loop (Tapsalteerie, 2024) was longlisted for Scottish Poetry Book of the Year and examines cycles of personal and collective narrative—how stories shape us, and how we might reshape them in return. Her 2025 work Maiden Mother Mage, published by Matecznik Press and performed at both Culross Abbey and Glasgow Cathedral, reimagines the life of the 6th-century figure Thaney (later St Teneu or St Enoch), a woman historically marginalised yet central to Scotland’s cultural and spiritual lineage. You can learn more about her work at www.rebeccajoysharp.com.

Rebecca describes her practice as one of “renegade history”—excavating overlooked or obscured characters and asking what their stories illuminate in our present. Through poetry and creative writing, she invites participants to consider who gets to be remembered, how narratives are shaped, and what imaginative acts can uncover. These workshops extend that approach, encouraging you to become an archivist of the unseen and an inventor of the possible.

What to Bring

• Your subject (and perhaps a secondary option), with any basic notes or thoughts
• Writing materials such as a notebook and pen
• Any photographs, mementos or artefacts connected to your chosen subject, if you wish to use them for inspiration

Practical Details

• Warm clothing is recommended, as The Scriptorium can be cool
• Tea will be provided
• Participants may attend either the 17th or the 24th January session
• Sessions begin promptly at 10.30am

These workshops offer an opportunity not only to strengthen your creative practice but also to contribute to a collective act of storytelling rooted in the unique setting of Arbroath Abbey. We look forward to welcoming you and the stories you bring.