Wolf at the Door Writing Weekend - Ways into Writing

Please note this weekend will be in person as long as circumstances allow.

As we move through the summer we can turn towards our experience, whatever it is, in a creative way that deepens and transforms it. On this weekend we’ll explore how we can approach our experience through writing with the qualities of Mindfulness, Compassion and Receptivity and see what treasures emerge.

Buddhist practice encourages us to turn towards the pleasant and the difficult in our experience to empower us to make choices which help us to grow. On this weekend we’ll see how writing can help us in this endeavour by knowing what our experience actually is - letting it surprise us with creative and transformative results.

The imagination makes available and harmonises what may seem contrary energies within us and makes a spiritual life possible. Wolf at the Door offers a friendly and nurturing way of exploring this essential human faculty through writing, with the help of a little meditation and, sometimes, ritual. No writing experience is necessary, just a willingness to step through a door into new creative spaces, accompanied by experienced guides.

What to expect - Please read before booking

Open to all. You do not need to have been on any previous Wolf at the Door weekends in order to attend this one, and no writing experience is necessary, though if you do write regularly we hope you would enjoy the workshop too. Apart from a willingness to dive into the imagination, all you need to bring with you is a pen and plenty of paper.

The leaders will set up a variety of activities to stimulate the imagination and get you writing. There will be opportunities to read out what you’ve written, but this is an invitation we would encourage you to take up, not a requirement. The focus of the weekend is on enjoying our exploration of writing, and letting the imagination flow, rather than on technique or critical feedback, although the leaders may introduce general tips.

Each day will run from 10.00 - 5.00, with an hour for lunch 1.00 – 2.00 and tea breaks.

Lunch will not be provided so please bring your own to eat at the Centre, or explore the many cafes and restaurants roundabout – you may prefer the latter if you wish to stay away from the busy Centre for Covid hygiene reasons.

Places will be limited to 17 to prevent crowding during the workshop, and to help ensure everyone has a chance to fully take part.

Electronic devices - for the benefit of everyone present we ask that you don’t use your mobile phone during the sessions and have it on silent. We also ask that you write with pen and paper if possible to support a quiet space in which to write for the group. If you need to use a laptop or other device to write please contact us on the email address below with your phone number to discuss your needs and we will do our very best to accommodate you.

Booking is required (by payment of a fee) for attendance on both Saturday and Sunday. We set up with important introductory guidance on Saturday and attendance for part of the time on either day can be disruptive for other members of the group. If you are unsure about this or anything else please contact us on the email address below.

Please note that if you need to cancel less than seven days before the start of the weekend, we will be unable to give you a refund.

Covid hygiene precautions

The WLBC continues to practise awareness around this issue.

Note that on the Saturday morning of the workshop you will need to be prepared to confirm a negative result from a lateral flow Covid test that you have carried out before leaving to travel to the Centre.

On the Saturday of the workshop we will be in a room whose windows are not designed to be opened. However, there is an environmentally friendly aircon system which draws fresh air in. We will also be socially distancing as far as we can. If the weekend is fully booked there will be twenty of us, including the two leaders and a support person, but we will still be able to put some space between our chairs. You are welcome to wear a mask if you feel more confident doing so. Antiviral gel will be available to attendees and leaders.

On the Saturday also other classes will be taking place in other parts of the Buddhist Centre, and we will be planning our breaks so that there are not too many people in the reception area for tea at the same time. Participants of the other classes may be entering and leaving the building or assembling in the reception area between 1 and 2 p.m. as well and, as indicated above, you may wish to leave the building for lunch.

We strongly advise that you only book on the weekend if you are comfortable with all the above arrangements.

Vishvantara

Vishvantara has been reading and writing poetry since childhood and her debut pamphlet Cursive was published by HappenStance Press in 2015. She has twice been commended in the National Poetry Competition and won first prize in the Poetry London competition. She has been associated with Wolf at the Door for over twenty years and (like Varasahaya) has been co-leading its writing workshops for many years. She was Ordained in 2005 and teaches at the London Buddhist Centre.

Varasahaya

Varasahaya attended her first Wolf at the Door retreat in 2000, the same year she was ordained. She enjoys the surprises and access to themes in her life she wouldn’t otherwise access that writing brings. She also loves co-leading Wolf at the Door events and seeing the benefit participants gain from the workshops and retreats (not always those they expected!). Her work has been published in magazines and she created her book Moon Skin Coat with illustrations by her daughter in 2016. She recently completed a series of seminars with Fiona Sampson.

Queries related to the programme can be emailed to Varasahaya: varasahaya@umiskin.co.uk

Please contact the West London Buddhist Centre office for bookings and other enquiries.

Much more information about Wolf at the Door writing workshops can be found here: www.wolfatthedoor.org.