Explore & write: ZUIHITSU | In Conversation with Sei Shōnagon | Online workshop with Alex Corrin-Tachibana | Saturday 14th September | 10.00am–12.30pm BST
This workshop will guide you from Sei Shōnagon’s tenth century 枕草子, Makura no Sōshi: The Pillow Book, through to contemporary zuihitsu from around the world. There will be examples of zuihitsu from Japanese, Asian-American and British poets, including the author of ‘The Narrow Road to the Interior’, Kimiko Hahn and Manx poet Simon Maddrell.
Zuihitsu means ‘follow the brush’ and the form has been widely interpreted to include collage as well as words and recast in the form of a ‘disrupted zuihitsu’, by Karen McCarthy Woolf. But what exactly are the traits of a zuihitsu?
Alex will introduce traditional and modern examples of zuihitsu using a wide range of texts and audio materials so we can excavate the form. There will be many opportunities for discussion and Alex will bring her Masters in Japanese Language and Culture, and ten years’ experience of life in Japan, to help unpack the form. There will be imaginative writing prompts, a chance to share your written responses and takeaway readings to gear you up to produce your own Pillow Book!
Numbers limited to 16.
Fee: £30
What people have said about Alex:
She is a wonderfully inspiring and generous facilitator who is always thinking about the best way to combine the space to practice writing poems with learning from already established poets.
Alex facilitated in a warm, thoughtful and supportive manner which created a safe space for participants to share ideas and extracts from their writing.
She has provided a rich mix of innovative material, facilitated inspired group discussions, and I have come away buzzing with ideas for new work!
Alex's workshops have introduced me to some of my new favourite writers. I would wholeheartedly recommend!
Places are limited, early booking recommended to avoid disappointment.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana has an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and an MA in Japanese Language from Sheffield University. Until this December, she also taught creative writing at Newcastle University.
She has an intimate knowledge of Japanese poetic form, having lived in Japan for ten years.
Her most recent work appeared in PN Review, The Moth, Poetry Wales, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence and The Alchemy Spoon. Online her poems can be read in Anthropocene, The High Window and London Grip.
She came third in the 2020 Oxford Brookes International Poetry competition, has been shortlisted for the Winchester and Troubadour prizes, and had two poems shortlisted by Billy Collins, for the 2022 Fish Prize.
Her debut collection, Sing Me Down from the Dark, is published by SALT.
Praise for Sing Me Down From the Dark:
‘Charting a cross-cultural relationship through courtship, wedding and a marriage’s slow disintegration, this collection carries us across continents and years through love, disappointment and anger towards a new beginning. Vulnerable, direct and formally exact, these are generous, courageous and devastating poems that will draw you in, hold you close and leave you feeling wrung out but triumphant.’
—Jacqueline Saphra
This workshop will guide you from Sei Shōnagon’s tenth century 枕草子, Makura no Sōshi: The Pillow Book, through to contemporary zuihitsu from around the world. There will be examples of zuihitsu from Japanese, Asian-American and British poets, including the author of ‘The Narrow Road to the Interior’, Kimiko Hahn and Manx poet Simon Maddrell.
Zuihitsu means ‘follow the brush’ and the form has been widely interpreted to include collage as well as words and recast in the form of a ‘disrupted zuihitsu’, by Karen McCarthy Woolf. But what exactly are the traits of a zuihitsu?
Alex will introduce traditional and modern examples of zuihitsu using a wide range of texts and audio materials so we can excavate the form. There will be many opportunities for discussion and Alex will bring her Masters in Japanese Language and Culture, and ten years’ experience of life in Japan, to help unpack the form. There will be imaginative writing prompts, a chance to share your written responses and takeaway readings to gear you up to produce your own Pillow Book!
Numbers limited to 16.
Fee: £30
What people have said about Alex:
She is a wonderfully inspiring and generous facilitator who is always thinking about the best way to combine the space to practice writing poems with learning from already established poets.
Alex facilitated in a warm, thoughtful and supportive manner which created a safe space for participants to share ideas and extracts from their writing.
She has provided a rich mix of innovative material, facilitated inspired group discussions, and I have come away buzzing with ideas for new work!
Alex's workshops have introduced me to some of my new favourite writers. I would wholeheartedly recommend!
Places are limited, early booking recommended to avoid disappointment.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana has an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and an MA in Japanese Language from Sheffield University. Until this December, she also taught creative writing at Newcastle University.
She has an intimate knowledge of Japanese poetic form, having lived in Japan for ten years.
Her most recent work appeared in PN Review, The Moth, Poetry Wales, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence and The Alchemy Spoon. Online her poems can be read in Anthropocene, The High Window and London Grip.
She came third in the 2020 Oxford Brookes International Poetry competition, has been shortlisted for the Winchester and Troubadour prizes, and had two poems shortlisted by Billy Collins, for the 2022 Fish Prize.
Her debut collection, Sing Me Down from the Dark, is published by SALT.
Praise for Sing Me Down From the Dark:
‘Charting a cross-cultural relationship through courtship, wedding and a marriage’s slow disintegration, this collection carries us across continents and years through love, disappointment and anger towards a new beginning. Vulnerable, direct and formally exact, these are generous, courageous and devastating poems that will draw you in, hold you close and leave you feeling wrung out but triumphant.’
—Jacqueline Saphra
This workshop will guide you from Sei Shōnagon’s tenth century 枕草子, Makura no Sōshi: The Pillow Book, through to contemporary zuihitsu from around the world. There will be examples of zuihitsu from Japanese, Asian-American and British poets, including the author of ‘The Narrow Road to the Interior’, Kimiko Hahn and Manx poet Simon Maddrell.
Zuihitsu means ‘follow the brush’ and the form has been widely interpreted to include collage as well as words and recast in the form of a ‘disrupted zuihitsu’, by Karen McCarthy Woolf. But what exactly are the traits of a zuihitsu?
Alex will introduce traditional and modern examples of zuihitsu using a wide range of texts and audio materials so we can excavate the form. There will be many opportunities for discussion and Alex will bring her Masters in Japanese Language and Culture, and ten years’ experience of life in Japan, to help unpack the form. There will be imaginative writing prompts, a chance to share your written responses and takeaway readings to gear you up to produce your own Pillow Book!
Numbers limited to 16.
Fee: £30
What people have said about Alex:
She is a wonderfully inspiring and generous facilitator who is always thinking about the best way to combine the space to practice writing poems with learning from already established poets.
Alex facilitated in a warm, thoughtful and supportive manner which created a safe space for participants to share ideas and extracts from their writing.
She has provided a rich mix of innovative material, facilitated inspired group discussions, and I have come away buzzing with ideas for new work!
Alex's workshops have introduced me to some of my new favourite writers. I would wholeheartedly recommend!
Places are limited, early booking recommended to avoid disappointment.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana has an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and an MA in Japanese Language from Sheffield University. Until this December, she also taught creative writing at Newcastle University.
She has an intimate knowledge of Japanese poetic form, having lived in Japan for ten years.
Her most recent work appeared in PN Review, The Moth, Poetry Wales, Fenland Poetry Journal, Tears in the Fence and The Alchemy Spoon. Online her poems can be read in Anthropocene, The High Window and London Grip.
She came third in the 2020 Oxford Brookes International Poetry competition, has been shortlisted for the Winchester and Troubadour prizes, and had two poems shortlisted by Billy Collins, for the 2022 Fish Prize.
Her debut collection, Sing Me Down from the Dark, is published by SALT.
Praise for Sing Me Down From the Dark:
‘Charting a cross-cultural relationship through courtship, wedding and a marriage’s slow disintegration, this collection carries us across continents and years through love, disappointment and anger towards a new beginning. Vulnerable, direct and formally exact, these are generous, courageous and devastating poems that will draw you in, hold you close and leave you feeling wrung out but triumphant.’
—Jacqueline Saphra