Are you an artist who writes? Or a writer who arts?
Mentoring for writers of all stripes, ages, and abilities.
Expand and deepen your understanding of writing with Dr. James Miller and Dr. Anna Johnson. These two published authors and experienced university lecturers hold workshops, intensives, and one to one mentoring at RuptureXIBIT, complimenting our existing art mentoring team of artists Kate Howe and Sally Minns.
James & Anna
NEXT!
WRITING WORKSHOP: Saturday, July 12 · 2pm - 5pm
Writing others/ writing yourself - crafting character in fiction, life writing and autofiction
The first half of the workshop will explore how we can develop complex, realistic characters, writing from perspectives other than our own.
In the second half of this workshop, we will turn to ideas around life writing, autofiction and memoir, and how we might write ourselves. We will explore these modes of writing through short writing exercises and prompts, drawing on Melissa Febos' work discussing her experience of writing memoir, and other life writers such as Maggie Nelson and Jane Lazarre. Book your spot here. Only £5.00.
UPCOMING!
RuptureXIBIT Creative Writing: Summer one day intensive
Saturday, July 26 · 10am - 5pm
Intensive one day summer school: Writing practice as care with Dr Anna Johnson & guest host, Millie Walton.
Hone your creative writing skills, kick-start your practice or just explore something new with Rupture’s one day intensive creative writing summer school. The day will be hosted by Rupture’s Dr Anna Johnson and will also feature a workshop and talk by special guest, writer, editor and curator, Millie Walton.
Through readings, discussions and writing exercises, we will explore the care and close attention of writing practice, writing as self-care, and expressions of kinship. We will draw on texts by a range of authors, including Lisa Baraitser’s writing on care, poetry by Maggie Nelson, and prose by Hannah Silva.
Guest host Millie will be talking about her work with Babe Station, (an evolving art and research project, exploring the relationship between making art and motherhood) and leading a writing workshop that explores the communality and care of language through collage-based practices. The session will invite participants to cut, rearrange and reassemble words to consider how writing can hold, support and move between us.
We can’t wait to welcome you to this day of nurturing, explorative creativity.
Millie Walton is a writer, editor and curator based in Somerset. Her work spans art criticism, fiction and poetry. Formerly Digital Editor at Apollo magazine, her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Burlington Contemporary, Flash Art, Wallpaper and Plaster, among other publications. She is the founder of the art and research group Babe Station, through which she recently curated ‘Sorry about the mess’, an exhibition supported by Bow Arts and featuring artists and writers who are also mothers. In August, she will present her moveable poems in a solo exhibition at BOTH Gallery, Highgate.
Book your spot here. £35.00.
Guest host Millie Walton
Why Rupture Writing?
Rupture believes everyone is an artist, with art existing in many forms. Rupture presents workshops and events that draw inspiration from the free-flowing, interdisciplinary salons of the past, emphasizing that art is a dynamic response to impulse and experience rather than something able to be rigidly defined.
At Rupture, artistic practice is fluid and ever-evolving. Artists are encouraged to explore, question, and allow their work to emerge naturally. Writing is essential in this process, clarifying thinking and deepening understanding. By embracing writing, artists can refine their creative expression without the constraints of external validation.
Rupture fosters this exploration through Practice Development weekends, offering workshops on examining and expanding artistic practices, followed by writing sessions with published authors. Writing and art are intertwined—through writing, artists can make sense of their work, reflect on their practice, and push creative boundaries.
About James and methodology:
“My practice as a mentor aims to be as free as possible from pre-determined ideas or assumptions; I treat each writer as distinct and individual and aim to work with them to help them best realise their ideas. Within this space, I have a three fold approach:
1. Diagnostic. We ask. Where are you at? What are you writing? What do you want to achieve with your writing? Where are you on your writing journey? Are you a beginner looking for more fundamental guidance and support or an adept who needs a final push to produce work of a publishable standard?
2. Practical. We look at your technique and style - how can we improve the words on the page? How can we improve the structure and impact of the piece? How can we make the piece work better? How can we make your writing sharper, more original, more distinct, more creative?
3. Existential/ fundamental. Is this what you want to write? What are you really writing about? We go deep to really try and figure out - what is your story? What is the problem that your work is speaking to? Sometimes this can require painful forms of growth - abandoning inauthentic projects that you've outgrown and are holding you back, having the courage to address what it is you really want to write about.
Within this lose framework, Rupture's pragmatic, non judgement, experimental ethos offers the perfect space to explore, evolve and develop your work.
We see all the Arts as part of the same practice - whether prose or poetry, painting, sculpture or music, cultural theory or philosophy - we look at transferring and cross pollinating practices and approaches to help best realise your self as a writer.
James hosts writing workshops monthly at RuptureXIBIT. Additionally, James is available for a free 20 minute one to one consultation, works individually with writing mentoring clients, and offers a reader/comment service.
About Anna and methodology:
As a mentor, I believe it’s my job to hold a space that nurtures conversation, exploration and action. I aim, always, to recognise the vulnerability of sharing what you create, or hope to create, and especially the parts of your practice that you might be struggling with. As such, I aim to build a mentoring relationship that feels as safe and explorative as it does rigorous and productive.
There is a space opened up by conversation that allows us to see things anew, to find paths that we hadn’t realised were there, and to better understand our practice. Mentoring is a chance to have those conversations, a chance for us to learn together what your particular practice needs in this moment.
Out of this conversational space, I create tailored writing activities to encourage new ways of working, build skills, or focus your thoughts on a particular issue. These exercises feed the continued conversation as we get deeper into our exploration of your practice. They often lead to new work or new ways of working.
This looping process of conversation and action can be used short-term, to shift a creative block for instance, or as a longer process of ongoing exploration, depending on what works for you and your practice.
Rupture’s ethos of practice as foundational to creativity, of open communication, and ongoing discovery, aligns perfectly with my aims as a mentor. I have no secret formula for creativity, no one-size-fits-all template for practice – instead, I believe we can work together to discover more about your practice, and to develop skills and understanding that will move it forward.