Lapidus News

Sunday 12th February 2023 - 5pm to 6:15pm (UK time)

Facilitator: Barbara Bloomfield and Roger Livingston

Start your new year with a creative burst!

Come and find your juicy energy with short readings and poems and a bit of creative writing that will help to support and encourage you for the coming year.  Writers Barbara Bloomfield and Roger Livingston, plus the odd guest or two, will bring you inspiring words -  funny, romantic, warm and challenging   - and invite you to energise and focus your talents for 2023.

Since the Black Lives Matter movement drew us closer to the reality of racism in the world today, the term ‘BAME’, meaning ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ has been bandied about everywhere.

I don’t do ‘BAME’. I don’t like the term that is. I am BAME, according to someone who made up the acronym. But do I want to be? Why should I? Do you like being called ‘White’? Black? Asian? And having that pointed out on forms, in funding calls and in research?

Thinking of running a writing group? Already organise workshops but want to enhance them? Here are a few top tips from our community.

An online writing circle guided by psychologist Dimitra Didangelou.

Dimitra’s approach through expressive writing techniques encourages life reflection, self-exploration and creative expansion.

The group is useful for all individuals, while the practice of expressive writing can particularly benefit those seeking to gain insight into their inner lives, increase self-awareness, listen to their inner voice and connect with their full creative potential.

The writing focuses entirely on tapping into our inner selves, without any concern for narrative structure or grammar rules.

Three days of talks, lectures and workshops in beautiful Småland

From 3-5 July, 2020, SmåBUS will be organizing the second International Children's and Young Adult Literature Conference in the heart of Småland, Sweden. This upcoming edition is themed around Inspiration & Responsibility and will involve a number of lectures, workshops, a museum visit, various children’s activities and an international illustrators’ exhibition. The organizers call it “an inspiring cultural movement working in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren.” Speakers include Flemish author Bart Moeyaert, laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2019, which is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for youth literature.”

As part of its centenary in 2019, the Forestry Commission is calling on the nation to write about what trees and forests mean to them this Valentine’s Day.

Earlier this year, Lapidus International held its first ever writing competition with guest judge Julie Primon.

We were very happy with the responses - every submission bringing something new and special to the suggested theme. On Saturday at the Lapidus AGM, the winner of this inaugural competition was announced.

The winner of the 2018 'A Moment of Kindness Flash Fiction' competition is:

Every month or so, we are sending our outreach officer, Francesca Baker, out to bring back an interesting story from the field of words for wellbeing. Here is the first of these stories!

In October 2017 Jane Moss embarked on a three year research project to create a community novel. Her question is ‘what would happen if a community wrote a novel using a combination of pens, apps and laptops?’ Or, to put it another, more academic way, ‘What is the potential role for digital media in co-authorship of a community novel?’

We thought this sounded interesting – and fun – so caught up with Jane to find out more.

The magic of therapeutic writing is often experienced sitting around a table in an intimate group setting.  There is enormous power in writing together and having our words witnessed by others in a safe space, held by a skilful facilitator.

When Victoria Field and I embarked on the challenge of carrying some of that alchemy into a virtual learning environment with the launch of our online Introduction to Therapeutic and Reflective Writing course, we approached the task with excitement, but also some uncertainty.  Would it be possible to provide a safe, supportive environment for participants to learn, share and develop?  

The aim of this Creative Writing course is to provide an opportunity to put pen to paper and to do so in classes which are inclusive, enjoyable and stimulating. These initial courses will encourage and facilitate writers, of whatever ability, to explore their own potential. In responding to workshop prompts they will call on their own knowledge, life experiences, memories and imagination to write.  The course will use stimuli such as nature, art and photography, life and personal observation, and poetry.  Groups will be small and will foster a friendly and supportive atmosphere.  A two-hour workshop each week will encourage the momentum of writing and the ability to hear and provide peer feedback.  If you’ve always wanted to write, come along and have a scribble!

Courses will run from late September in the following venues:

Abergavenny Hub – Monday evenings between 6 pm and 8 pm

Caldicot Hub – Wednesday evenings between 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm

Chepstow Hub – Saturday mornings between 10.30 pm and 12.30 pm

Monmouth Hub – Monday afternoons between 7 pm and 3 pm

Booking is essential - contact with your local Hub or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Writing for Self Discovery workshops

Autumn 2018

This experiential Continuing Professional Development day focuses on creative writing and its use within therapy and therapeutic settings.

October 27^th 2018 10.00 – 16.45

Facilitated by North East poet and educator Natalie Scott, Seasonal Space to Write brings writers together, regardless of age, ability or discipline and where their interest may be in poetry or prose, report writing or simply recording daily events and experience.

Grimm & Co is Yorkshire’s only Apothecary to the Magical. It’s an exciting project with a shop-front premises in Rotherham, offering creative writing workshops for children and young people. The first time I visited, as a potential volunteer, I was given the same experience as each new participant gets:  the secret doors opened and I was ushered through into the writers’ space. I tell you, it’s magical.

Update: Visit their website to find out about their #SummerLetterChallenge. It looks really interesting! - Richard

We all love receiving a handwritten letter through the post, the feeling you get. That rush of excitement, the anticipation of ‘what’s inside?!’  - Reading well thought out words from someone close to us, offering an opportunity of reflection and even becoming a tactile keep sake for the future. Letters provide us with such a wholesome experience.

Writing as Alchemy: a nourishing & inspiring weekend retreat, tapping into the elements, your self and your potential for transformation through the use of poetry, creativity, meditation and woodland walks.  Set in the beautiful countryside of North Shropshire.  

Date: 4th May 2018

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.” Aldous Huxley

Let's get together, tap into our creativity and discover more about ourselves through poetry, self-reflective writing and conversation.

This weekend, a good friend of mine attended the first-ever Stockholm Writers Festival, where Jessica Lourey was a guest speaker. Ms. Lourey, an author and writing facilitator, has a moving story about the role of stories in her life – specifically, how re-writing your most difficult moments can bring a new perspective, closure, and freedom.