WRITING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

WITH LOUISE WALLWEIN

What can creative writing do to change the world?

How can a poem or a play make a difference in your community?

Can writer/artists use their skills to act as cultural diplomats?

Is it possible to change the world by bridging the relationship between people/communities and organizations but also help to bridge that distance between a person and their own voice?

Date: Thursdays starting January 23

Time: 2.30pm - 4.30pm

Where: The Creative Communities Studio, University College

Find out how your writing can enrich your community and how your community can enrich your writing.

This will be a practical series of workshops designed to motivate you to write and make a difference to your world.

I am a passionate artist who works with many different people from oral history projects with Lancashire Mill workers to working with people in prison. I work from the premise that everyone has a story to tell and everyone should have the opportunity to tell it.

My work has been performed all over the UK and across the globe. As a writer, I have never been limited to one way of telling a story. I create text-based installations, films, animations.

I have been a writer ever since I was seventeen, fresh out of the care system. I became a Playwright/Poet with my plays produced by Red Ladder (Tagged) Contact / Arena Theatre company Melbourne / Sydney Opera House (Skid 180) Manchester Poetry Festival (Low Flying Aircraft) B.B.C Radio 3 The Wire (Dirty White Girl).

Engagement with people is at the heart of my writing. I have a massive tool kit of writing exercises and techniques and a wealth of experience that I would like to share with you. I have worked in schools, P.R.U’s, a young men’s prison, and in communities regenerating after they have rioted. I have been described variously as fearless and explosive, and I usually work with people who are deemed difficult to reach.

I will be running a project at Agape table in Osborne Village and I’m looking for some students to volunteer to be part of this exciting project and gain some valuable experience that will change the way you think about what writing can do.

To sign up, please email ccwoc@cc.umanitoba.ca or phone (204) 480-1065.

For further information or questions contact me at ccwocwir@cc.umanitoba.ca or (204) 480-1067, or please click

HERE.