Writers across the Territory are being offered another opportunity to finesse their skills with the hosting of another writing workshop series titled: "The Speculative and the Real: Writing Across Genre” a Prose Fiction Masterclass.

Literary Arts Officer at the Department of Culture, Ms. Anika Christopher said that the upcoming workshop will give writers the opportunity to have their individual submissions critiqued as well as work on a collaborative story with award winning author, Cadwell Turnbull.

Ms. Christopher added, “Through collaboration, the class will be exploring elements of mosaic storytelling, a framework where writers will learn to tell one story out of many perspectives and genres. This hands-on work will provide lessons that can be brought back to individual stories and open up new possibilities for crafting multi-layered narratives.”

The workshop will be held on May 28, June 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 and will be facilitated by award winning author of “The Lesson”, Cadwell Turnbull. Persons should submit one short story that is either 1,200 to 1,500 words or four to five pages to register at viculture@gov.vg. Submission deadline to register is May 1.

Mr. Turnbull received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and an MA in Linguistics at North Carolina State University. Since its publication, ‘The Lesson’ has been nominated for a SOVAS Award in fiction, an Audie Award in Science Fiction, and an AAMBC Literary Award. The novel was shortlisted for the 2020 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and longlisted for the 2020 Massachusetts Book Award.

‘The Lesson’ was the recipient of the 2020 Neukom Institute Literary Award in the debut category. It has also been optioned by AMC for a television series in collaboration with The MissionEntertainment.

The Department of Culture is committed to promoting artists of the Territory and has conducted several workshops for visual artists, culinary artists, Calypsonians, and even held an oral history workshop for Culture and Tourism Month held in November.

Earlier this year, the department commenced the writing workshop series with a poetry writing session. Thirteen persons participated face to face and virtually.

Director of Culture, Dr. Katherine Smith said, “I would like to reiterate the Department of Culture's commitment to promoting and developing the Territory's cultural artists. This year we were excited to begin the “Writing with Writers” programme, a series of workshops for the literary artists. The first workshop was a five-session poetry masterclass facilitated by our Poet Laureate, Dr. Richard Georges.”

For more information on the Writing with Writers Workshop Series, contact the Department of Culture at 468-4379.

NOTES TO EDITOR(S):

• Photo: Writing workshop with Poet Laureate, Dr. Richard Georges
• Flyer : "The Speculative and the Real: Writing Across Genre” Writing Workshop