Saturday 28th August was the last of the summer workshop sessions planned for the Wadadli Pen 2021 long listed writers, facilitated by me through my Jhohadli Writing Project. While three previous sessions took place via zoom, this was an in-person session. I actually had planned initially to use the Public Library but after receiving a no from them for a Saturday session, I decided to move things over to the Botanical Gardens. And it worked out better, I think; lots of fresh air and space to distance, lots of writing, and lots of natural inspiration.
This is one participant evaluation after a zoom session; others are expected (will share when they come in). But, in the meantime, follow this blog and/or my Jhohadli blog to connect to future workshop opportunities. Anything here is non-profit (so will require patronage) and the Jhohadli Writing Project over on my personal blog is not-non-profit (requiring payment by individual participants and/or patronage, e.g. a contribution in this instance from G. Linton, to cover some or all of my time for prep and delivery of workshops, and related expenses).
As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, The Jungle Outside, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.
Why did you register for this workshop? I was curious. I also thought I could learn new things which I did.
What was your favourite/least favourite activity? I enjoyed everything at the workshop especially the discussions.
Would you recommend this workshop? Yes, most definitely. There is a lot to learn and the facilitator did a great job of explaining what I didn’t understand.
The Q & A above excerpt a recent Jhohadli Writing Project evaluation – redacted to exclude any information specific to the participant.
As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Musical Youth, With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page Jhohadli or like me on Facebook. Help me spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.
I have been offering courses and workshops in Antigua and Barbuda for some time. In 2018, I open up my sessions to participants from other places. While you won’t be in session benefiting from the interactive nature of my workshops, you will receive course notes and individual written feedback – a service not afforded to […]
February 7th 2017 – the Literacy Festival that forms part of Education Week, this year with a focus on expressive literacy at the Secondary and Tertiary levels. The students will be engaged in an impromptu speaking activity and a dramatization of an extract from a text of any genre. In addition, there will be a display of original writings by teachers as well as local and regional authors as models of literacy.The event will take place at the Multipurpose Cultural Centre beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Relatedly, congratulations to Desryn Collins on her appointment as Education Officer, Language Arts, (Ag.) as of January 3rd 2017.
February 6th – Wadadli Youth Pen Prize Annual Challenge deadline. Must be Antiguan and Barbudan and 35 or younger to participate. See details at Wadadli Pen 2017. Teachers, youth workers, parents encourage the young people in your lives to create and submit; young people, we, at Wadadli Pen, look forward to reading your efforts.
January 28th – 10:30 a.m. – Antigua Dance Academy will be hosting a Creole Headtie Workshop at the Red Cross Headquarters on Old Parham Road. It is part of their year-long 25th anniversary celebrations.
January 23rd – Start of 12-week sculpting and painting workshop. Register at the Cultural Development Division on Nevis Street.
January 21st – Tanya Evanson will be hosting a special master class ‘Bothism’ for poets, spoken word poets and creatives during the one Day Just Write Writers’ Retreat on Saturday, January 21, 2017, upstairs Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, Long Street 10 am to 5pm – EC$150 (22 and over). Young writers 21 and under PAY ONLY EC$100 AND scholarships are available.
From the Wadadli Pen Challenge 2016 Awards ceremony: Akeilah Hillhouse presenting to Chammaiah Ambrose, the 12 and younger winner, on behalf of Frank B. Armstrong.
January – February 2017 – Just a reminder that it’s not too early to start thinking about your Wadadli Youth Pen Prize submissions for the 2017 Challenge season. Teachers, youth workers, parents, start encouraging the young people in your lives to start creating; young people, start creating.
January 20th – 22nd 2017 has been announced as the dates of the 4th Just Write WritersRetreat at Mount Tabor, John Hughes, Antigua. Like the page for more updates.
November – December 2016 – Master artist Heather Doram is offering another workshop on the heels of her first successful one at the National Youth Enlightenment Academy:
November 2016 – Jhohadli Writing Project(by Joanne C. Hillhouse) will be offering a series of workshops in November – details to come – but contact jhohadli@gmail.com if you want to be on the mailing list for a first look at those details. Flashback to the first Jhohadli Writing Project workshop activity:
October – November 2016 – Independence stuff:
And about that big bank writing competition as the literary arts “step up inna life”! – This one’s from the local press – I don’t have any other details about this but there is a number you can call for more information (462-4707) – the information that’s in the press is that students attending primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions have an opportunity to win EC$10,000 (that’s for the upper level students) or EC$5,000 and prizes (for the primary students) for writing an essay on the Independence theme (Building an Economic Powerhouse Together) and submitting it by October 31 – either hand delivering to the National Festivals office on Market Street or emailing jennell.willette@ab.gov.ag
October 11th 2016 – Expressions: Poetry in the Pub returns, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m., at Heavenly Java 2 Go in Redcliffe Quay. Start to the new season and ongoing.
As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Musical Youth, Fish Outta Water, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen, my books, and my freelance writing-editing-coaching-workshop services. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.
I was asked to do a couple of hours on writing during the Best of Books summer camp. I’m late reporting on it. It was during Olympic season, so I decided to go with a sports theme to make it more interesting for them. We read sections of stories by me (mostly because it was short notice) including first glimpse of part a new work involving a sport approximating the game of football, also excerpts from Country Club Kids (tennis) – available in my book Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings, and my teen/young adult novel Musical Youth (boxing); the new work seemed to be their favourite. We had some discussion questions for general group interaction, then they worked in teams to identify as many of the action words and dynamic descriptors in my story excerpts as they could find. Then they got to practice using them in their own original fiction after watching some youtubed Olympic footage for inspiration. The Olympic footage got even the non-writers in the group engaged and we got to talking about some of the great Olympic moments we witnessed – one of the participants ended up writing about those moments instead of original fiction but that’s okay; at least he was writing. In two hours, there’s only so much you can do so if I got them writing, I was happy. It took a little while to get to happy. Some required a little more coaching and one or two focused on finishing (read: rushing) the story rather than capturing a moment in as much detail and with as much action as served the moment as directed; but, in the end, everyone wrote something and received a critique. Plus I distributed flyers for the 2017 season of Wadadli Pen, so hopefully they’ll be doing even more writing. Gooooaaaallll!!!!
Post-note: the organizer of the camp/Best of Books manager informs me that one of the most silent, reluctant-seeming participants had one of the best reviews.”Kid who appeared to be asleep in your session went home and told her people it was ‘amazing’ and detailed how it will make what she writes better … she just wished it wasn’t a sports theme .. would have preferred something more general.” Go figure.
As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Musical Youth, Fish Outta Water, and Oh Gad!). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen, my books, and my freelance writing-editing-coaching-workshop services. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.
I’ve done a couple of these arts round ups in the last two weeks. Still not promising this is going to be a weekly thing but this is the spot I’ll be dropping any new A & B arts news I buck up on for the next week or so. So, here goes.
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Do you like to write? Have creative ideas? Need to boost your creative energy?
The Just Write Creative Sessions with
Brenda Lee Browne
Is for YOU
Three sessions 17, 24 and 31 October, 2015
Best of Books (Upstairs)
St. Mary’s Street
10 – 12
$50ec per session
Tel: 726 5468 for more information or register in store
N.B. The Just Write Writers Retreat has also been announced for January – see the Opportunities Too page.
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Shiva School of Dance to showcase an encore of The Other Side of Me – Sunday, November 15 at 7:00pm; UWI Open Campus – Antigua.
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The Halo Foundation, Inc., a charity organization founded by Lady Sandra Williams in December of 2014, provides assistance to local organizations that support the sick, abused, lonely or needy of all ages in Antigua and Barbuda.
See also information re the Christmas card competition – now run by Halo – in Opportunities Too.
I’ll add only that I’m here situated in Antigua, a writer and a media person, interested in working with young writers or with young people (and adults, my adult writing workshops, like Ah-nuld, will be back) in general who want to improve their literary skills or just carve a space in their lives to flex/exercise their literary muscles. We are all works in progress and I continue to work on my own as well, participating in writing workshops and retreats when I’m able. You don’t realize how draining life can be on your creativity until you’re in a space, if only for an hour that is just about the creativity.
Darren asked me during our interview about the future of the arts (in Antigua and Barbuda) and (despite the intimations by some that I am effectively in a dying industry and the sense, certainly in our space where it is not prioritized) all I can say is go back to earliest civilization, there has been a creative spark, through all the changes over millennia, there has been a creative spark, on the plantations where oppressors worked overtime to stamp out my ancestors’ humanity, there was a creative spark, there will be as long as there are humans trying to interact with or make sense of their world, as long as there is a living, breathing soul inside of us, a creative spark. We create because we are.
As a freelance writer, in a space with limited (very limited) support for the creative arts, I try to find ways to not only do what I do, share my own work but work with others. When I started Wadadli Pen, best known as an annual arts Challenge it aspired and aspires to be more than a competition. As a voluntary project with zero resources of its own, the Challenge is primarily what I’ve been able to do with it. But one thing the challenge reveals each year is the spark of potential in so many of our young people and young writers, there only to be stoked and encouraged.
Through the Jhohadli Writing Project, my own professional writing services, I hope to play a more developmental role, allowing people to pay where they can and/or businesses and individuals to support someone else in the journey, where they are able and willing. It’s not something I can do for free, but I do want it to be accessible which is one of the reasons that I invite sponsorship so that I can offer spaces to promising writers who don’t have the ability to pay. That’s where I am with this.
Appreciated the opportunity to share more.
And as usual thinking about a million other things I should have said (such as the obvious connection between this arts programme and the kind of programme the kids in #MusicalYouth were involved with). Musical Youth is my latest book and my publisher CaribbeanReads will probably want to ring my ear for not plugging it…or Best of Books which was so gracious for spotlighting the book as its teen summer read. Glad I got to get a word in on the reading challenge put on by my two primary voluntary projects the Cushion Club and Wadadli Pen (supported with book discounts by Best of Books and Cindy’s Bookstore…shout out as well to Map Shop which helped us compile the reading list).
As with all content (words, images, other) on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Fish Outta Water, Oh Gad!, and Musical Youth). All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about WadadliPen and my books. You can also subscribe to and/or follow the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks. And remember while linking and sharing the links, referencing and excerpting, with credit, are okay, lifting whole content (articles, images, other) from the site without asking is not cool. And using any creative work without crediting the creator will open you up to legal action. Respect copyright.
Building on the success of the Jhohadli Summer Youth Writing Project , on the potential I see every Wadadli Pen Challenge season, on the opportunities I’ve had to work with youth and writers here in Antigua and Barbuda (and beyond), Untitled3band drawing on my experiences as a freelance writer, journalist, editor, and educator, I’m proposing a series of developmental writing sessions. READ MORE.
