Workshop: Adam Wyeth

Sunday 28th October
11am to 4pm, Adults and teens 

The Mythic Imagination

Creative Writing Workshop with Adam Wyeth

‘Mythology is not a lie, it is poetry, it is metaphorical’ Joseph Campbell

In this exciting and accessible new series of creative writing workshops, Adam Wyeth (author of The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry) will take you on a journey through the great panoply of Celtic myth, revealing how these ancient narratives and traditions are deeply intertwined into the fabric of our daily lives.

Adam has developed a series of unique creative writing exercises, showing the many ways in which we can interlace our writing with Celtic references. Once you’ve unlocked the mythic imagination, you’ll be shown how you can add your own 21st century twist to the rich bedrock of Celtic heritage – finding new ways from the old ways to enhance your work with hidden layers and depth.

You’ll explore many of Ireland's major traditional forms from Early literature, Immrama, Dindsenchas to aisling, and look at themes of metamorphosis, animal symbolism, tree folklore, archetype and lots more. Through readings and discussion you’ll discover that the mythic imagination is not a tacked on idea or an exercise in nostalgia pining for a bygone age, but that it speaks to our inner lives and is at the heart of all great literature and art. As well as poetry, the course is tailored towards prose writing too, we’ll explore how you can apply these mythic ideas and archetypes to develop characters and enhance plot, adding hidden layers to your work. We'll see how leading Irish writers have used and transformed these forms and then find exciting ways to apply these ideas to your own work with inspirational exercises, writing prompts and games. Adam will then offer personal feedback on each piece written.

Expect to come out of the workshop with some great new work and a deepened appreciation and awareness of modern literature, myth, tradition and writing craft. These workshops are designed for writers of all levels of experience and no knowledge of mythology is required. All you need is paper, pen – and your imagination!

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ADAM WYETH is an award-winning poet, playwright and essayist with three books published. His critically acclaimed debut collection, Silent Music was Highly Commended by the Forward Poetry Prize. Adam’s second book, The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic Mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry contains poems from Ireland’s leading poets followed by sharp essays that unpack each poem and explore its Celtic mythological references. His second collection of poetry The Art of Dying was published by Salmon November 2016 and was named as a book of the year in the Irish Times. Adam has over twelve years experience as a workshop facilitator. He works as an editor and critic at fishpublishing.com where he also teaches creative writing online adamwyeth.com. He also works on ideas and research for the RTE Radio 1 Poetry Programme.