For current information about planned events from Lapidus Scotland contact Larry Butler on 0141 946 8096 (email butlerlarry@talktalk.net) or email lapidusscotland@yahoo.co.uk

Lapidus Scotland Big Gathering

Writing Your Self

with special guest John Killick

Saturday 13th February 2010

at Maggie's Glasgow, The Gatehouse, Western Infirmary, 10 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6PA

The day will incorporate the Lapidus Scotland AGM: 6:30pm - 7pm (all welcome)

In the evening we will host an Open Mic Session - 7.30pm till 10:30

Programme includes John Killick, reading and discussing his new book Writing Your Self co-authored with Myra Schneider. John has just completed a project as Poet in Residence for Cambridgeshire Libraries and is currently Writer in Residence for Alzheimer Scotland. Glasgow's Poet Laureate Liz Lochead performer, playwright will read with poet Tom Leonard who published Outside the Narrative last year.
Workshops
Writing from Memory with Helen Lamb
Storytelling with elderly people and the benefits of humour with Millie Gray
How do we take care of ourselves? (as facilitators) with Jayne Wilding
Who Me? Seeing ourselves with new eyes with Margot Henderson Celebrating Stories of Recovery www.storiesofrecovery.org.uk
see Noticeboard for more details of this exciting project

Cost for the day:

£20 (non-Lapidus-members or corporate); £10 (Lapidus members, unwaged & concessions)

evening celebration & Open Mic (donation at the door and free to those attending daytime)

A small number of bursary places are available.

Day event includes a hearty soup and sandwiches for lunch

For more information, or to book a place email: mailto:lapidusscotland@yahoo.co.uk or phone Lesley: 07853188411*

A provisional programme can be downloaded here (.doc file)

Noticeboard

Stories of Recovery www.storiesofrecovery.org.uk

Greater Glasgow and Clyde Drug Action Team teamed up with Lapidus writing and storytelling service to work with recovering drug users to write short stories about their recovery process. Twenty stories have been penned and the first ten stories were released in September 2009

Writing and Creative Groups

Life Writing

With experienced tutor Liam Stewart. Explore, draft and write about an aspect of your life story. The emphasis is on providing a receptive audience and mutual encouragement for your writing. As the class progresses Liam will encourage you to consider ways of developing your writing further

Mondays 3-5 pm starting 11th January 2010. Venue St James' Parish Church, Pollok, Glasgow

Photography and Storytelling Project

Would you like to learn more about photography, IT and storytelling in a friendly environment? Judy Parrott will be running a project, exploring Pollok and surrounding areas through photographs and words

Friday afternoons 1-3pm on 22nd, 29th January, 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th February
at Village Storytelling Centre, St James (Pollok) Parish Church, 183 Meiklerig Crescent, Glasgow, G53 5NA Tel: 0141 882 3025

www.thevillagestorytellingcentre.com

Previous Events

The Trick is to Keep Writing, Glasgow, October 2009

Lapidus Scotland collaborated with the University of Glasgow, VoX, the Scottish Book Trust and the Mental Health Foundation to present a unique programme of literary events at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow as part of the 2009 Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. The inimitable Liz Lochhead helped launch the Festival at the Film House in Edinburgh on the 1st September, with a humorous performance of her poetry, and a witty and timely reminder that most, if not all of us, will suffer some form of mental distress in our lives.

There were workshops, talks, readings, book launches and performances, and showcase opportunities for emerging writers to showcase their work. The theme of the programme is Writing : Experience and featured writers Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Tom Leonard, Denise Mina, Alan Bissett, Zoe Strachan and Louise Welsh

Big Tent Environmental Festival, July 2009

Lapidus Scotland hosted the Poetry Tent at the Big Tent Festival - Scotland's largest eco-festival - for the second year running. Our venue is the idyllic cherry orchard of Falkland Palace, Fife. The tree were in full fruit!

Further info: bigtentfestival.co.uk

Lapidus's theme was Freedom and Belonging and how writing can empower people to explore, express and resolve the dilemmas caused by these competing needs.

Participants were invited to write a renga, bring along favourite readingsto cross-fertilise ideas and inspire free-writing, enjoy a creative potting table with novelist and short story writer Frances Campbell planting seeds in paper pots, then making bouquets of words.

Bernard MacLaverty award winning novelist, short-story writer and film director, read from his work and amswered questions

Open-mic MC-ed by Lesley O'Brien, storyteller and singer

Theatre Nemo , a community theatre company based in Glasgow which runs performance-arts activities in psychiatric hospitals, prisons and the community

The Garden Cottage Diaries. Fiona Houston talked about her year living as if in the 18th Century.

Poet Bashabi Fraser and poet and novelist, Ron Butlin, introduces Scottish PEN’s first online recording project: ‘Departures and Arrivals’. The commissioned work highlights the theme of ‘Homecoming’. PEN is a worldwide association of writers pledged to protect freedom of expression.

Collaborative poetry with Larry Butler, poet, taiji teacher, gardener and director of the Bodhi eco-Project

Freedom and Belonging: Roots and Wings, Glasgow, February 2009
Liz Lochead, acclaimed poet, performer, playwright, and Glasgow ’s very own Poet Laureate, and

Paddy Hill, one of the Birmingham Six, writer, and founder member of Mojo (the Miscarriage of Justice Organisation)

Frances Campbell, novelist, journalist and Lapidus Scotland Committee Member. In White Stones, Frances engaged participants in a creative exploration of ‘the white stones’ we can set to create and defend our boundaries in our lives and creative practices

Martin Stepek, poet, politician (ex-leader of the Scottish Green Party), promoter of Polish culture in Scotland , businessman, and teacher. In Absorbing Legacy Martin will engage participants in examining how to source family and related stories/cultures through writing

Margot Henderson, poet, story-teller, community artist and member of the Findhorn community led participants in exploring some of the puzzles and paradoxes of freedom and belonging, our individuality and our inter-connectedness

Words in the World, Glasgow, October 2008

For writers and readers, storytellers and singers, ecologists and gardeners, health and social care workers, teachers and everyone who cares for our world's future

Words of Hope for the World: From the Personal to the Collective: Ted Bowman, an educator who specializes in change and transition, whose work explores the links between grief and hope. He has long been a friend of Lapidus, participating in many workshops and conferences over the past decade. He is also on the board of the US National Association for Poetry Therapy and received their Outstanding Achievement Award in 2008

Other contributors to Words in the World included Larry Butler, Valerie Gillies, Margot Henderson, Ruth Kirkpatrick, Gerry Loose, Seeds of Thought.

Lapidus Scotland Inaugural Conference Hidden Voices, Glasgow, September 2006
Three days of panel presentations, discussions, workshops, readings, and performances celebrating 10 years of Lapidus and the diverse voices of Scotland

For the compilation document 'Hidden Voices', a fund of stimulating ideas and practical workshops, click on the link below. To read this document you should have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. Please note this document may take a few minutes to load as it is 112 pages