Still Life Workshop Anthology
Living through the Covid-19 pandemic posed a particular problem for the writers of fiction, namely how to create work in a world which seemed to have risen ready made from the genre of dystopian fiction. Meeting in groups on Zoom broadened the scope of our workshops in so many ways but it also added an unreal element. For a time we were all characters in a fiction of someone else’s making. So how to react to such a life changing situation?
Some of the workshop writers avoided the subject like the plague while others grasped it by the throat. You’ll find it here in all its shades and variations. 26 writers, artists and photographers reacting in their own unique way to the threat of the unseen, the unknown. Available to buy on Amazon
“I was very familiar with Zoom but Roddy’s workshops really make the most of the format. Close reading other writer’s work onscreen is a revelation and I love watching videos of poets and plays. But one of the best things about the workshop is Roddy’s help with homework. It’s like a magic wand has been waved over it.” Margaret Cooper – Zoom workshop writer.
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In this section we share a selection of our writers’ weekly homework pieces and timed exercises. Homework is normally 500 – 750 words maximum, the timed exercises are completed in the workshop within 20 minutes.
Its not uncommon for one of the workshop writers to develop and combine their homework pieces and craft them into a long form story, or even a novel. These two long form pieces by Sue Hitchcock are perfect examples.
The Disinformation Correspondent by Sue Hitchcock
Square One by Sue Hitchcock
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September
The Man by Maureen Marsh
Shrink That by Jill Webb
A List of Necessities – a time exercise by Fran Duffield
Its True in the Story by Francesca Ryan
Life in the Fast Lane by Lesley Dawson
Dust 2 by Juliet Robinson
Gosday by Sho Botham
Possession by Francesca Ryan
A Day in the Life of a Festival Goer by Lesley Dawson
Tomorrow by Sho Botham
Roddy’s column – Night at the Opera
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August
The Pact by Maureen Marsh
That Fuzzy Feeling by Jill Webb
Man on No 49 Bus by Fran Duffield
Good Morrow by Francesca Ryan
Dust by Juliet Robinson
They Could Do Nothing by Sho Botham
Homecoming by Marion Umney
Silence by Rosalyn Hurst
Geraldine by Sho Botham
The Presentation – a timed exercise by Marion Umney
Dr Russell T Hurlburt’s Psychological Blunder – a timed exercise by Maureen Marsh
Roddy’s column – The March to the Scaffold
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July
Sonata in A Major by Maureen Marsh
Pocket Venus by Fran Duffield
No Art by Francesca Ryan
Protector by Juliet Robinson
More to Me by James Wong
Appearances can be Deceptive by Lesley Dawson
A Feat of Fabrication by Helen Miele
Schadenfreude by MaryPat Campbell
Usual by Sho Botham
A Visit to Yorkshire by Marion Umney
Just Checking by Rosalyn Hurst
The Essay – a timed exercise by Maureen Marsh
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June
The Happiness Project by Maureen Marsh
Tired by Fran Duffield
Hollows by Juliet Robinson
Blood Oath After Midnight by James Wong
The Ethics of Being Unwashed by Lesley Dawson
Power Moves and Pans by Helen Miele
Night Time by MaryPat Campbell
The Oasis by Juliet Robinson
Plausible by Sho Botham
A Question of Happiness by Sho Botham
An Afternoon at the Opera by Rosalyn Hurst
The Lotus Flower by Chani Fifield
Once Everything you Cherished is Gone by Chani Fifield
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May
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The Demon by Maureen Marsh
Sub Rosa by Francesca Ryan
The Fisherman and the Hourglass of the Gods by James Wong
Living the Dream by Helen Miele
Under the Apple Tree by Juliet Robinson
Charlie by Sue Hitchcock
The Burden by James Wong
Sub Rosa by MaryPat Campbell
Dinner Date – a timed exercise by Maureen Marsh
Looking for the Heart of Saturday Night by Francesca Ryan
Sub Rosa by James Wong
Popping In by MaryPat Campbell
Sub Rosa by Sho Botham
And the There were Three by Francesca Ryan
The World of Unexpected Happenings by Maureen Marsh
Urs by Sue Hitchcock
A Question of Happiness by Sho Botham
Knock Knock by James Wong
And in the End by Rosalyn Hurst
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April
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Aid Work by Meredith Shepard
When Life Gives You Lemons by Jill Webb
Eye of the Beholder by Francesca Ryan
The Colour of Egg Yolk by Meredith Shepard
Too Fast by Sue Hitchcock
The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good by Francesca Ryan
Bing, Bing, Bing by Sho Botham
Surprise by Sue Hitchcock
After Bangkok by Sho Botham
The Accused by Ivor John
The Train to Alexandria by Lesley Dawson
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March
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Colours by Maureen Marsh
The Gentle Touch by Francesca Ryan
The Colour of Egg Yolk by Meredith Shepard
The Police Station by Sue Hitchcock
March by Francesca Ryan
Two Hours by Sho Botham
The New Boy 1969 by Sue Hitchcock
Spilt Milk by Stuart Finegan
Prophecy by Fran Duffield
The First time by Sho Botham
The Letter by Ivor John
Different Strokes by Lesley Dawson
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February
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A Sight for Sore Eyes by Jill Webb
Fox by Francesca Ryan
That Time in the Jungle with Tom Cruise by Juliet Robinson
The Bird by Sue Hitchcock
The Thieving Fox by Kitty March
Figgy by Francesca Ryan
I Remember by Katy Wise
Kids by Sho Botham
Marine Drive/A Heavy Anchor by Chani Fifield
Sauntering by Stuart Finegan
Tumbling Dice by Fran Duffield
Hotel Buzzing by MaryPat Campbell
Elise by Ivor John
How Long? by Lesley Dawson
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January
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Jennet by Francesca Ryan
Phoenix High 2 by Juliet Robinson
Hedda Friends Once by Sue Hitchcock
Crazy by Sho Botham
The Offering by Chani Fifield
Something to Tell by Stuart Finegan
Fur Baby by Francesca Ryan
Fools by Fran Duffield
The Refectory by MaryPat Campbell
Surprise by Lesley Dawson
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